


To Sacrifice (But Knowing to Survive)

by imafriendlydalek



Series: Show Me [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Artist Steve Rogers, Budapest, Canon-Typical Violence, Dealing With The Press, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Looking for Bucky, M/M, Palladium Poisoning, Superhusbands, Wedding, Wedding Planning, What Happened in Budapest, and also CA:TWS sort of., in which the Avengers assemble themselves, let's try and avoid that, sort of., very roughly follows the events of IM2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-02
Updated: 2016-02-28
Packaged: 2018-04-07 07:59:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4255560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imafriendlydalek/pseuds/imafriendlydalek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Planning a wedding is hard work, especially if you are busy hunting down the guy who killed your fiancé’s parents, an assassin known as the Winter Soldier, and also your fiancé might be dying.</em>
</p><p>This is the sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3795409/chapters/8449972">Show Me How To Live</a>. When we last saw these two, it was 2008, Steve had exposed Hydra within SHIELD with Natasha's help while Tony was in Afghanistan, Tony and Steve had taken down Obadiah Stane, and they might have gotten engaged. Oh yeah, and they just told the world they are Iron Man and Captain America, respectively.</p><p>This story picks up from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So it begins...
> 
> You'll notice that the tags include Natasha, Bucky, Sam and Clint. They'll show up in later chapters. So does the palladium problem. Don't worry, Tony lives.
> 
> The title is from the Foo Fighters song "Walk"

_“The truth is,” Tony says, leaning into the microphone, “I am Iron Man. And Steve is Captain America.”_

That’s when the room erupts in a flurry of shouted questions, waved recorders and flashing cameras. All of the reporters are on their feet, trying to out-shout each other and catch Tony’s attention, except for one, the woman who had asked Tony to tell the truth, who is sitting calmly with her arms crossed. Steve sends her an approving smile, which she returns.

They’re whisked out of the spotlight and back into the dressing room, where Pepper and Coulson are glaring at them. Steve suddenly realizes how Tony must feel when he puts on his stern face. When did his dear friend Pepper become so menacing? Tony flashes them a grin in a somewhat misplaced attempt at appeasement.

“I’m going to need you to come with me,” Coulson says neutrally. “A whole lot of things have just changed.”

“Things were already wrapped up with Hydra,” Steve puts forth. Is that what Coulson is referring to? He’d been kept from revealing who he was because they had still been tracking the covert Hydra operatives within SHIELD, but that had been declared accomplished weeks ago. Granted, the issue of human enhancement still remained, and his revelation would likely cause objections from various outlets. That was always going to be an issue. They’d discussed that too, shortly after he and Natasha had found the Zola computer, and Coulson had been tasked with developing a strategy for dealing with that.

Okay, his plan had probably just been tossed out the window by Tony’s announcement.

Coulson leads them out to his car and is silent on the drive to SHIELD HQ. Tony catches Steve’s eye and sends him a questioning look, which Steve responds to with a shrug. 

“They would have figured it out anyway,” Tony huffs as he crosses his arms in indignation.

When they pull up outside SHIELD, Fury is waiting. His long coat is blowing in the wind and he looks downright imposing. “You two, with me.” He turns and moves swiftly into the building, leaving Steve and Tony to scramble to keep up.

“Okay, if you’re going to have us killed now,” Tony says when Fury leads them into an elevator that starts going up without him pushing any buttons, “do we at least get a last meal? Because I haven’t eaten in like two days and I would really like a strawberry milkshake.”

Fury does not react.

The elevator comes to a stop and the doors slide open. They’re on the eightieth floor at least, and the floor-to-ceiling windows provide a sweeping view of Midtown Manhattan. The tower that will serve as the new Stark headquarters once it’s completed is visible a few blocks away.

Fury crosses the room, which Steve concludes must be his office, and stands in front of one of the windows, looking out over the city. He sweeps his coat aside to put his hands in his pockets in that dramatic way he does.

“That was quite an announcement you made this morning, Stark,” he finally says.

“Yeah, well-” Tony starts, but Fury continues.

“You’re not the only ones out there with special powers, you should know.”

Tony snaps his mouth shut.

“But the formula-” Steve starts.

“Others have tried to recreate it while you were on ice. No one has succeeded, but some have gotten close.”

Now it’s Steve who snaps his mouth shut, unable to formulate a response.

Fury turns to face them. “We’ve been working on an initiative, one that would allow you, Captain Rogers, to put your abilities to use.” He walks over to his desk and picks up a file folder. “That’s changed a bit now, thanks to Mr. Stark over here, but this was our plan.”

He tosses the folder to Tony, who catches it and flips it open.

“The Avengers Initiative?” Tony reads.

“It’s an impressive bit of technology you demonstrated yesterday, Stark, and it would make welcome addition to the team.”

“What’s the objective?” Steve asks skeptically, glancing over Tony’s shoulder at the folder.

Fury leans back against his desk. “Like I said, you’re not the only ones with special powers. We’d like to have those people on our team.”

“And if they don’t want to be?”

“Find and contain.”

“Like SHIELD did with me when they found me?” Steve takes the folder from Tony and tosses it onto Fury’s desk. “Thanks, but I don’t think we’re interested.” He turns and heads for the elevator.

“I’m with Spangles on this,” Tony says flatly as he follows after him.

***

“Hey Steve,” Tony says into the darkness. 

They’re lying in bed, Tony curled up against Steve’s side, both just about to drift to sleep. It’s been a long past few days since their announcement with what feels like an endless barrage of phone calls with requests for interviews. It’s become almost impossible to leave the house since the press seems to have set up camp outside the mansion. Tony has had to have his security manager, Happy Hogan, and his team posted at the house to keep overzealous reporters from trying to find a way in. The sudden swell in attention has made any semblance of a normal life seemingly impossible. But they both knew that getting into this.

“Yes, Tony?”

“The thing that we talked about, a while back, when you came in and saw me testing the repulsor boots on the suit…”

“Yeah…”

“Did you really mean that?”

Steve shifts to be able to look Tony in the eyes. “What, us getting married?”

“Yeah.” Tony rolls onto his back and glances away. “That.”

He lifts a finger to Tony’s chin and tilts his head so he’s looking at him again. “I meant every word of it, Tony. Why do you ask?”

“It’s just,” Tony lifts a hand to run it through his hair, “it kinda seemed like we were just joking around - except I wasn’t - I meant it too - and then we didn’t talk about it for a while cuz of the thing with Obie and the press conference and then we kind of, you know, became superheroes, so I guess I thought maybe that had… changed.” His eyes snap back to meet Steve’s with a searching gaze.

Steve leans down to press a soft kiss on Tony’s lips. “Tony Stark, I love you and everything about you. Nothing can change that, not even, I dunno, murderous COOs or aliens swooping in and trying to kill all of humanity, or the press trying to tell us that superheroes can’t be married, or even state law telling us that. You’re the one I want to spend this life with, Tony.”

Tony smiles and lets out a quiet sigh of relief. “Good. I like that. I can live with that. I’ll take it.” He reaches up and runs a hand along Steve’s side. “Good,” he repeats. “So now what, do I need to go out and buy you a ring? Get down on one knee? Call in a press conference and tell the world the big news? Or do we just change our relationship status on Facebook and let speculation run rampant?”

“One step at a time, Tony,” Steve chuckles. “I think we can skip the kneeling, and rings are probably a bit too dangerous in our line of work. They get caught on things.”

“Valid argument. I can’t really wear one while I’m welding either.”

“We’ll find something else.” He pats Tony’s hair idly. “And maybe we should give it a few weeks until the next press conference. Give everyone some time to digest all the other news.”

He sees Tony pout ever so slightly and he knows that Tony was secretly looking forward to making a big announcement.

As if being _superheroes_ isn’t enough, he muses with a smile.

***

Tony has made it his mission to get his weapons out of the hands of extremists, which means that he’s constantly dashing off to Afghanistan or the Middle East or Madripoor or somewhere like that. He’s faster on his own on those missions, but Steve does come along when Stark weapons turn up closer to home - like that crime ring in Chicago. It’s during one of these “homeland missions”, as Coulson calls them, that an overzealous photographer manages to follow them and snap a few photos, which are all over the news the next day. An even larger crowd of reporters is camped outside the Mansion that morning and one of them manages to catch Tony, still tired from the fight and not yet sufficiently caffeinated, with just the right/wrong question.

“Mr. Stark, why do you feel that you are entitled to act outside the law on American soil?”

Tony pulls his sunglasses off his face, showing the dark circles around his eyes, and squints at the reporter. “Just cleaning up some old messes,” he growls, then grabs the reporter’s microphone and tosses it into the bushes.

That earns him a charge of destruction of private property and an angry call from Pepper insisting they both come to the conference room immediately.

“Uh-oh, Mom’s mad,” Tony says, frowning at his phone after she hangs up.

“If Pepper is Mom,” Steve muses, “then that means that Rhodey is-”

“Don’t fucking say it, Rogers.” Tony bats at his arm, but Steve ducks out of reach easily.

Pepper is waiting for them with a sour expression on her face and another woman next to her dressed in a smart business suit. She’s what people these days call petite. In Steve’s day, they would have called it perfect. She has that fierce ready-to-take-on-the-world glint in her eye that Tony gets, and the memory of Peggy washes over him.

“Hell-looo,” Tony drawls flirtatiously as he stretches out a hand to offer a handshake to the woman.

“Tonyyyy,” Pepper says, the warning evident in her voice. “This is Ana Alito. I’ve hired her as your publicist. Which I should have done a long time ago, since you clearly need someone to manage your public image. Ana, this is our frightfully juvenile boss Tony, and Steve, the reasonable one.”

“You clearly have never seen him playing Mario Kart.” 

Steve wants to poke Tony in the ribs for that, but he’s got a reputation to uphold. “Good to meet you, Ana,” he says, shaking her hand. “Pepper’s definitely right - Tony’s the one to keep an eye on.”

“I have impulse control issues,” Tony says, and he actually sounds pretty proud about that.

“Basically, he’s the one that needs damage control,” Pepper says, point to Tony, then Steve, “and he’s the one that needs image management.”

Ana smiles. “That was quite an announcement you made last month. It’s pretty surprising that there haven’t been more negative stories. Human enhancement is a pretty touchy topic these days.”

With a sigh, Steve recalls that conversation with Sitwell all those years ago. He knows now that it’s not as contentious a topic as Sitwell had made it out to be then, but it certainly does give the pundits something to focus their rants on. When they get tired of talking about Tony and Steve’s relationship. “Yeah. Fox News sure likes to talk about it, though.”

Ana lays out her strategy for handling their situation. It’s evident that she has the understated yet confident “I won’t put up with any BS” manner that means she won’t hesitate to stand up to someone like Tony and the type of people that seem to fill the world he moves in. She is absolutely the type of woman who would pick up a gun and fire it straight at his shield, and Steve decides he likes her.

“There’s one more thing,” Steve adds as the meeting is drawing to an end. He catches Tony’s eye, who nods.

“Uh-oh,” Pepper says.

Steve smiles. “You should know that we’re engaged. We want to get married.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea to write a sequel is 100% the result of all the kind and encouraging comments on the first part. Thanks for the motivation! Keep it up ;-)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read [Chapter 10](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4072786/chapters/9721080) of the one-shots, you might want to do so first, because that joke pops up again here. Because I couldn't resist.  
> Thanks go out to orbingarrow for betaing and cheer-leading, and to everyone who left comments and kudos!

“You - what?” Pepper asks, somewhat dumbfounded. Then she straightens, a smile spreading across her face until it becomes a huge grin. “That’s wonderful! Congratulations!” She jumps to her feet to hug first Steve, a long, tight embrace, and then Tony.

“Um, you’re the first people we’ve told, so maybe let me break the news to Rhodey, okay?” Tony says as they hug, stroking her hair with one hand.

Pepper nods. “Of course.” They pull out of the hug and Pepper gives Tony’s hand a light squeeze. “I’m so happy for you two.”

Tony looks down at his feet. Is he actually blushing?

“Congratulations to both of you,” Ana says with a warm smile. “Have you made any plans yet?”

Steve shakes his head.

“We’re not in a rush,” Tony says. “We want to get married, but it doesn’t have to be tomorrow. This isn’t a shotgun wedding, after all,” he adds with a grin.

Steve tosses a pen at him, which he ducks. “Don’t be inappropriate, Anthony.”

“Now you see what you’ll be up against,” Pepper says to Ana with a sigh.

Ana smiles in amusement. “Looks like I won’t be getting bored, that’s for sure.”

“I like to keep people on their toes,” Tony says. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have very important engineering to do.” He brushes a quick kiss against Steve’s cheek and waves distractedly as he leaves the room, his attention already turned to his phone.

“Steve,” Ana says, calling Steve’s attention away from watching Tony walk away, “if you have a few moments, I’d like to talk to you about how to proceed with your artwork.”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Pepper says, gathering her things. “Meet me for lunch, Steve?”

“Yeah, I’ll pop in at 1.”

Pepper leaves and Ana gestures towards the chairs around the table.

“Your work has been generating quite the buzz, and rightfully so.”

“Thank you.”

“Pepper showed me the records from your show at the gallery on the East Side. It all sold out after your announcement.”

Steve blinks. “ _All_ of it?”

Ana nods. “Every last piece in the show. It seems everyone wants to own a painting by Captain America.”

It’s quite a bit of news to process, and Steve’s not sure what to do with that. On the one hand, he’s thrilled that so many people are interested in his work, on the other hand, it’s confirmation of the nagging suspicion he’s had for a while now: that people are interested primarily in his name (and his association with Tony Stark) and not actually the art. He slumps back against the chair. “Wow.”

***

“Hey Tony, go put on your gym clothes.”

Tony looks up from the gadget he’s dismantling. “I like it better when you tell me to take my clothes _off_.”

“Maybe after.”

He’s off the couch and out the door like a bullet, and only a few moments pass before he reappears in workout pants and one of the athletic shirts he’s stolen from Steve. It hangs loosely off his smaller frame. “Reporting for duty, Captain,” he says, saluting with a wink. “Though I would like to know why.”

“If you’re gonna be sticking your neck into the line of fire, I’d feel a lot better knowing that you actually can hold your own in a fight.”

Tony gives him a sideways look. “You’ve seen the suit, right? Short of a nuclear missile, there’s not all that much it can’t take.”

“Yeah, and if something happens when you aren’t wearing it? I want you to be safe.”

“Alright. What’s your plan?”

Steve gestures towards the gym. “I’m gonna teach you. We’ll start with wrestling, see where we go from there.” Tony makes a face, so Steve adds “Of course we’ll need to hit the shower afterwards.”

“Alright. Fine. Let’s do this thing,” Tony says, putting up his fists.

Steve knocks them aside easily, grabs Tony in a headlock and rubs his head with his knuckles as Tony flails against his grasp. “In the gym, you loser.”

***

“How’s your Spanish, Steve?” Natasha asks as soon as he answers the call.

“No muy bueno. But Tony’s is pretty good, why?”

“You boys might want to head to Bogotá. There’s been a sighting of the Winter Soldier there.”

That’s all she has to say, and Steve is out of his chair and headed to Tony’s office. “Got it. Send us the specs. Keep me posted.”

“Aye aye, Captain.” 

As soon as the call disconnects, he calls up JARVIS and has him get the jet prepped and a flight path scheduled. Tony would be there faster travelling alone, but Steve needs to be there for this.

The elevator ride up to the floor where the executive offices are seems to take forever. Hitting the button repeatedly doesn’t help either, much to his chagrin.

“Hi Mr. Rog-” the receptionist starts. He nods as a greeting and strides down the short hall to Tony’s office.

He’s bent over the desk’s holodisplay together with Pepper, but both look up as soon as he enters.

“Hey-”

“Gotta go, Tony. There’s been a sighting. Sorry, Pep, he’s gonna miss a few meetings.”

***

Bogotá turns out to be a bust. The only trace of the Winter Soldier is a burning warehouse at the edge of the industrial district that was rumored to have housed some very dubious activity. Which there’s a lot of in the city, so that’s hardly an indication.

It also rained the whole time, and Tony was not hesitant to voice his displeasure.

They head home quickly, both at the end of their ropes. Steve can understand Tony’s frustration; he has complete understanding for it. He’s been on his fair share of missions where they showed up just a moment too late, he thinks with a shudder as he remembers that one village in Poland. And then there’s the self-doubt and, worst of all, the self-reproach. The thoughts of “if only I’d been there a moment sooner.”

It’s not a healthy path to go down.

“We’ll get him, Tony,” he offers on the flight back. He reaches out to put a hand on Tony’s knee. He flinches but doesn’t pull away, so Steve leaves his hand there. “It would have been great to get him now, but it was a long shot. This guy is a highly trained assassin, after all. He doesn’t exactly go around announcing his presence.”

That seems to convince Tony somewhat, since he lets out a deep breath and slumps against Steve. “Yeah,” he says, barely audible. “Sorry. I dunno, I’ve just been feeling a little off.”

Steve wraps him up in his arms. “I’ll make you some soup once we get home.”

***

“I’d like to propose a toast,” Rhodey says with a wink, raising his glass. The four of them are out for dinner to celebrate Tony and Steve’s engagement.

“I hate you,” Tony mutters. Steve smiles at that - after all this time, Tony still hates that nickname.

Rhodey purses his lips and blows a kiss to Tony. “A toast, to my favorite celebrity couple who happen to also be superheroes. May you be as happy always as you are today, may you never have to fight the Joker, and may your toast never be burned.”

“Hate you so much,” Tony scowls before downing the contents of his glass.

“Thank you, James,” Steve says with a purposefully serious tone of voice, nudging Tony playfully in the ribs as he says it. “That’s very kind of you to say.”

“At least one of you is mature enough to make important life choices,” Pepper says with a smile in Steve’s direction as she raises her glass to her lips.

“I don’t need to make important life choices,” Tony retorts, “that’s what I have an assistant for.”

“Well I’m not gonna marry him for you.”

“Good,” Rhodey says.

“Much appreciated,” Steve adds.

“And I’m also not going to plan your wedding for you. Just so we’re clear on that. You can afford a wedding planner.” She narrows her eyes at Tony.

“Fair enough. I’ll make Ana do it.”

“Do you have any idea how hard it was to find someone with her kind of credentials who was willing to take on a challenge like you? Can you please not scare her off just yet?”

Tony sighs dramatically. “Fine.”

Pepper softens her glare and turns to Steve. “Have you guys put any thought yet into planning it?”

There’s a thump as Tony drops his head to the table with a groan. “Oh god, I don’t want to think about it.”

“Not really,” Steve says with a smile, patting the back of his fiancé’s head affectionately.

“I agreed to marry you, I didn’t take into consideration the actual getting-married part,” his muffled voice whines.

“You agreed? Excuse me, mister, but if I recall correctly, you asked me.”

Tony raises his head at that. “No, you asked me. You said I was the one you want to spend this life with.”

“Well yeah, I said that, but that was a statement, not a question. You asked, in the garage, with the jetpack shoes…”

“Repulsor boots. And that was because you-”

They’re interrupted by retching sounds from the other side of the table. Rhodey is mashing his head on the table. “God, they’re not even married yet and they’re bickering like an old married couple. I don’t know if I can handle this.”

“Don’t worry, Poohbear,” Tony says, “you’ll get there too.”

Rhodey lets out a groan.

“I guess we’ll have to have it in Massachusetts,” Steve says, turning back to Pepper. “That’s really the only place we _can_ get married. But it works, because that’s where we met anyway.”

“Man, the press is going to have a field day with this,” Rhodey says. “And the Westboro Baptist Church. Shit.”

Tony’s eyes light up at that. “Alright,” he says, pushing his sleeves up and laying his palms on the table. “Let’s do it. All out. Big fat gay superhero wedding. Full-on Tony Stark-style shebang. I’ll show them where they can shove it. Bring it.”

Steve feels a smile spread across his face. Tony certainly does like to make a statement.

***

Tony is still riding on the giddy energy he gets whenever he’s excited about something when they get home from dinner. Steve can tell because they’ve barely made it through the front door when Tony pushes him back against the wall and kisses him, hard. 

“Oh hi,” Steve mumbles between kisses.

Tony trails a line of kisses along Steve’s jaw, his hands roaming up and down Steve’s torso. Slowly he begins to undo the buttons of Steve’s shirt. “No talking,” Tony says as he mouths at Steve’s neck. “Talking is for losers.”

Steve lets out a chuckle, which turns into a groan as Tony reaches down to cup him through his pants. It’s been a couple days since they’ve done this, what with the trip to Bogotá and then Tony not feeling well, and Steve is already achingly hard.

So is Tony, he realizes as Tony presses his body against Steve’s.

He digs his thumbs into Tony’s hips and pushes. Tony stumbles backwards, but Steve’s there to catch him and they make their way, slowly, fumbling, with lots of stops filled with kisses and touches, to the library - the bedroom is just way too far away right now. They’ve lost most of their clothes along the way; Steve steps out of his briefs before pushing Tony down onto the couch and tugging off his boxers. There’s a groan as he straddles Tony, aligning their bodies with each other. It might have been from Steve, it might have been from Tony, or maybe both.

“Hmm, missed this,” Tony purrs as Steve hitches his hips. He reaches up and pulls Steve in for a kiss, long and luxuriating, each relishing the other’s touch.

Somehow they end up on the floor - Steve can’t even remember when that happened - and Tony’s rummaging in the drawer of the end table for the lube they keep stashed there for times like this.

“Ha-ha!” he says, holding it up triumphantly. Steve smiles fondly at him and pulls him back down for a kiss. Tony presses the bottle into his hand, but Steve pushes it back.

“No, I want you.” He rolls onto his stomach, shoving a pillow under his hips. As he turns his head to look at Tony, he sees the flicker of excitement in his eyes.

“Always happy to oblige,” Tony says, popping open the bottle to slick his fingers before leaning down to nibble at Steve’s shoulder. A happy grumble escapes Steve as Tony presses his fingers in.

“Yes… if ever there - hmm - was a worrrrrrrd to describe Tony Stark,” Steve groans, “it’s obliging.”

***

They’re sprawled out on the floor after, the room lit only by the fire Steve has just started in the fireplace. Tony looks like he’s about to fall asleep and Steve is taking advantage of this rare placid moment to trail lazy kisses over Tony’s torso. Their regular sparring sessions are paying off - while Tony has always been lean and trim, his arms toned from his work, there’s visibly more definition to the other muscles now. Steve kisses his way up Tony’s abs, along the line of his ribs to his chest. Steve pulls back just far enough to watch the orange light of the fire flicker over the blue glow of the arc reactor.

And that’s when he sees them, dark against Tony’s skin: little jagged lines, like the beginnings of a maze, all around the edge of the reactor casing.


	3. Chapter 3

Palladium poisoning. Numerous tests run by JARVIS and three separate doctors have confirmed it. Tony’s blood has a toxicity level of 4%, which doesn’t sound like much, but it had only been 2.5% the first time he tested it four days ago. JARVIS developed a detox blend for Tony to drink, which he does, reluctantly. 

“This is my punishment for mocking those green smoothies of yours, Rogers.” He chugs the drink and swallows with a grimace. “Damn, karma really is a bitch.”

“It sure is. And it’s just after you,” Steve deadpans.

“Yes, I’ve just found that consuming broccoli daily would completely reverse the symptoms,” JARVIS adds in the same sarcastic tone.

Tony throws up his hands. “I don’t believe it. Captain America and my AI are ganging up on me. How is this my life?”

At that moment there’s a loud crash and they both whip around to where You is standing in a puddle of spilled smoothie. Tony rolls his eyes and covers his face with his hands. “Why is everything I make so broken?”

Steve closes the space between them and wraps his arms around Tony. “For what it’s worth, you didn’t make me.”

“No. Thanks Dad.” He says it with a slight laugh, which is a start.

“When you put it that way,” Steve says, running one hand over Tony’s hair, “it sounds pretty weird.”

“Story of my life,” Tony retorts, squirming out of Steve’s embrace. “Might be a pretty short story though, so there’s that.”

“Hey,” Steve says, grabbing Tony’s hand to stop him from leaving. “Tony. There’s still lots of story to tell. We’ll fix this. And until then, we’re gonna go on as usual. We’ll keep looking for that Winter Soldier, and renegades with Stark tech, plus there’s all that Stark Tower stuff going on. And,” he lets his voice soften, “we’ve got a wedding to plan.”

“You still want to marry me, even with…” Tony’s voice trails off, but he raises a hand to his chest and taps idly on the arc reactor.

Steve puts a finger under Tony’s chin and lifts his head so their eyes meet. “Of course I do. I want to marry you. I want to be with you. Whatever happens. In good times and bad. In sickness and in health.”

“Looks like you might be getting that sooner than you bargained for,” Tony says with a frown.

“No, what I’m getting sooner is some bagels and a mochaccino. I’ll be back in half an hour, and you’d better be down in the lab working on my new uniform.” Tony sits up straight at that, so Steve adds “Those are Captain’s orders.”

“Yes, sir!” Tony says with a mock salute as he gets to his feet. “You’d better bring me a muffin or I’m calling this whole thing off,” he adds. “I can’t live on just chlorophyll.”

***

It’s the tail end of the lunch rush at Steve’s favorite bagel shop and the line moves quickly. The lady behind the counter smiles when she sees him.

“Hey hun, how are ya.” It’s not a question, Steve has learned, just a greeting. “Same as usual?”

“Hi Marge. Actually, let’s mix things up today. Can I please have a sesame bagel with cream cheese and lox, an egg-everything with two eggs over easy and bacon, and a chocolate chocolate chip muffin?”

“No coffee?” she asks, perplexed.

“Coffee same as always, please.”

Marge smiles as she rings up his order. “Atta boy. Can’t go throwing out all our traditions, huh? That’ll be 14.75.”

“No, some things you gotta hold on to,” Steve replies, returning the smile as he hands her a twenty dollar bill. “Rest is for you.”

“Thanks, hun. Lemme get that order in for ya. Have a seat, I’ll call you when it’s ready.”

The tables are all occupied, so Steve heads over to the one closest to the counter, where only one of the seats is taken. The guy looks like he’s just waiting for his order too, judging by the fact that there’s only a cup of coffee in front of him but no food. He’s flipping casually through the newspaper. There’s a set of keys and an ID badge on a Veteran’s Affairs lanyard lying on the table next to him.

“Mind if I join you?” Steve asks.

The guy glances up from the paper. “Yeah, sure.” Steve moves to sit down, and that’s when the guy recognizes him. Steve has learned to pinpoint the exact moment of recognition - he gets recognized a lot these days.

“Any good news?” Steve asks.

The guy closes the paper and rests his hand on the cover, which is another story about Stark Industries. “A lot less bad news in recent days, that’s for sure. Good to know the city has someone looking out for it.”

There’s a very casual tone to his voice, and Steve appreciates that. He smiles and nods at the ID badge. “Looks like we’re not the only ones. Did you serve?” 

“Yeah, Air Force, 58th Rescue Squadron. But now I’m working as a counselor. Sam Wilson,” he says, extending his hand towards Steve, who shakes it.

“Steve Rogers.”

“Yeah, I figured that out,” he says with a smile, tapping the newspaper.

“Steve, hun, you’re all set!” Marge calls. “You too,” she says to Sam.

“This place can’t be too bad then,” Sam says. “Sounds like you come here a lot.” 

“Yeah, probably more often than we should. Best bagels outside of Brooklyn, though.” Steve pushes his chair back to get up. They both take their bags and head outside. “See you around, Sam Wilson.”

“See you, Steve Rogers.”

***

The quest to track down the Winter Soldier leads them to Odessa. Once again, they’re just a little too late to catch him. Once again, he’s hit an old warehouse at the outskirts of the city, this time in the old port. Tony is disappointed again, and Steve is beginning to wonder if he has different plan to bring the Winter Soldier to justice besides the judicial system. They’re about to head back home when Tony’s helmet chimes with a notification from JARVIS.

“Looks like you’re gonna have to fly home on your own,” Tony says when he takes off his helmet after listening to JARVIS’ message. “I gotta take a detour to Georgia. Some separatists near Tbilisi got their hands on the 43-70.”

“Alright,” Steve says as he slings his shield onto his back. “Go kick some separatist butt. See you back home.”

“Yeah, see you there,” Tony says with a smile. He leans over to plant a kiss on Steve’s cheek, then he puts his helmet back on. “Have a good flight,” the mechanical voice of the suit says just before he takes off.

“You too!” Steve calls after him, but he’s already gone.

It’s a ten-hour flight back to New York, and Steve tries his hardest not to think about what Tony is up to in the meantime. He’s too amped up from the mission and Tony being off on his own to get any sleep, so he pours over the data from the mission again. There are too many similarities between this one in Odessa and the one in Bogotá to deny that the Winter Soldier is following a specific MO, but there’s not enough data to work out what it is.

After a few hours, he’s read what little data they have at least twenty times and analyzed it from every angle he can come up with, so he closes the laptop with an exasperated groan. 

“JARVIS, what time is it in New York?”

“It is 11:43 PM, sir.” Darn, too late to call Pepper.

Instead, he opens the laptop again, clicks on the internet browser and types in “wedding venues boston”.

***

There’s a Tony-sized lump under the blankets on the bed when Steve finally arrives at home, and suddenly he feels a lot lighter.

“Hey babe, what took you so long?” the lump murmurs sleepily.

Steve crawls into the bed, curling around Tony and pressing a kiss against his shoulder. “Not all of us can fly at Mach speed. And we also have to go through customs.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The adventure continues!  
> Thanks to everyone for commenting and kudoing (is that even a word?). Y'all are awesome. Also many thanks as ever to orbingarrow for feedback and support!

“... and the executive offices will be moved next week while we’re in LA,” Pepper says as she leads them through the foyer.

Construction of Stark Tower is nearly completed; most departments of Stark Industries have already been moved in. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled to be part of the annual Stark gala, which gives them about a month and a half to wrap everything up. Once everything is up and running, Tony has made it very clear, they’ll be able to activate the building’s arc reactor and take the Tower off the energy grid.

After nearly two years of construction, they’ll all be glad to see it finished. Steve watches Pepper as she leads them from room to room. It would not have gone nearly as smoothly without her expert leadership. She’s poured her heart and soul into this project, and it shows. He remembers when he’d first met her, all those years ago, and how she’s grown in that time. She’s still his favorite friend in the world, the one he turns to when he needs someone to listen, and she’s also become a remarkable, confident woman, one who can stand up to the men that dominate the industries SI operates in. If there’s one person in this world who can cut through the BS that Tony comes up with, it’s Pepper Potts. And this building is proof of that. 

Yes, there’s a slide connecting the floors in the IT development department that ends in a ballpit, and ping pong tables and arcade games in the recreation room next to the pool on the twenty-fifth floor, but she did manage to talk him out of the bunny room (both his initial suggestion of Playmates and his counter-suggestion of actual rabbits) and the electric scooter racing track.

Tony was allowed free rein on the top ten floors, though, which house R&D, his workshop and their living quarters. Steve didn’t quite see why they needed a new place to live - they already lived in a mansion on the Upper East Side, after all - but Tony had pouted and complained about commuting, and then Pepper had backed him up because she hated shepherding Tony into the office for meetings so at least he’d already be in the building, so Steve had relented.

Steve glances over to Tony and catches him looking at Pepper with that very same look of admiration he must have just had. It lasts just a moment, and then Tony springs into action, interrupting her with chatter, making suggestions, pointing out improvements that could still be made, and Pepper’s right behind him, noting what needs to be done and reining Tony in when he gets too carried away.

Yeah, they’re lucky to have someone like Pepper on their side.

***

Steve smooths down the front of his dress uniform and takes a deep breath. He’s been to hundreds of benefit events over the years, especially since he took over as the director of the Maria Stark Foundation, but he still gets that same anxious feeling before each one. 

This one is for one of the veterans’ organizations the Foundation supports, and even if Tony weren’t in California for the week on business, he’d still be on his own. It’s somewhat ironic that Tony’s decision to pull out of weapons manufacturing and his quest to create peace has gained him such animosity from the military. Some feel as though they have been abandoned by Stark Industries, forced to go to war with sub-par equipment (a sentiment Steve can understand - Stark tech saved his hide plenty of times during his war, after all), while others see Iron Man as trying to one-up the US military. But above all, every event Tony attends inevitably turns into the Tony Stark Show, which is not what they’re trying to achieve today. This is about the veterans, Steve reminds himself, and helping them get the help they need.

So it’s just him today. He adjusts his tie one last time and steps out of the car, tugging up the collar of his overcoat against the crisp fall breeze. It’s a relatively small event, not the A-list affair that some of the other events he’s been to were, so there isn’t a throng of paparazzi lined up outside, just a few photographers and a local news crew. He’s glad for it - he’s not sure he would quite be able to paint on his “everything is great” face today, not with what’s going on with Tony.

It’s just a few steps until he’s inside. Just a few smiles for the camera, a wave, a quick “hi good to see you” to the reporter. He can manage that. No big deal.

Drop your coat off at the coat check. Find the director of the organization, say hi, shake hands, pose for a photo. Mingle. Rub elbows. Tell a story or two from back in the day. No big deal.

He swipes an hors d’oeuvre from one of the trays being carried around and he’s got his mouth full when Justin Hammer claps him on the shoulder.

“America’s golden boy. Good to see you again, Captain Rogers.”

He coughs, a bit of cracker stuck in the back of his throat, before he manages to speak. “Mr. Hammer, hi.”

“All by yourself tonight?” Hammer asks, scanning the room for Tony.

“Yes, sir. Tony has an important green energy event to attend in California.” 

“Oh, yeah, that one. Had to miss that one, what with the defcon meeting here in New York earlier today.”

“Well I’m sure Tony will be very sad to hear that I got to see you tonight and he didn’t.” He’s trying to extract himself from the conversation, but Hammer steps closer and puts a hand on his shoulder as if they are friends.

“Hey listen, Steve, I was thinking, with SI being out of the military but surely, given your great service to this country, you’d like to continue to be the face of its great military ser-”

“Hey Steve, I’ve been looking for you everywhere,” a voice says behind him, and Steve whips around to see the guy from the bagel shop, Sam Wilson, standing there. Except this time he’s wearing his dress blues. “Director Lamont was hoping to have a few words with you. If you have a moment.”

Steve doesn’t even bother trying to hide the relief in his expression. “Oh, sorry Mr. Hammer, if you’ll excuse me,” he says, brushing aside Hammer’s hand. “I’ll be sure to send Tony your regards.”

He follows Sam through the crowd, and once they’re out of the ballroom, he leans back against the wall. “Sam Wilson, you’re a lifesaver.”

Sam lets out a quiet laugh. “Well, you know, Rescue Squadron,” he says with a smile. “Looked like you could use some help.”

“You have no idea.” He lets his head slump back against the wall and closes his eyes.

“Not a friend, then?”

“Noooo.” Steve laughs. “He’s kind of Tony’s nemesis. Thanks for the rescue.” He opens his eyes again and straightens. “What brings you to an event like this, anyway?”

“I run some of the support groups. Director Lamont said it’d be good to have some of us here so the benefactors can see the difference their donations are making.”

Steve grins. “Well shit, I’m sold. Expect a check from the Maria Stark Foundation by tomorrow.”

That earns him a laugh from Sam. “Not quite what I was trying to say, but we’ll take it.”

“Well then, my work is done here. I’m gonna beat a hasty retreat before Hammer tracks me down again.”

“Didn’t figure Captain America for the retreating type,” Sam ribs.

“Not from a fight, no. But Hammer’s just like that pesky mosquito that keeps flying around while you’re trying to sleep, buzzing in your ear. Can’t really fight that. So thanks again for the rescue, Sam Wilson.”

“Glad to help. And if you ever feel like coming down and seeing what we do firsthand, I’m there on Thursdays.”

He smiles at that. “You know, I just might.”

***

The Mansion is empty when he gets home, empty in that cavernous way it feels every time Tony is away. It’s still relatively early and Steve feels restless, so he changes into his workout clothes and heads to the gym. An hour with the heavy bag does little to clear his head, though, and even painting isn’t doing it. He paces the halls for a bit, halfheartedly tosses a few things into moving boxes, then flops onto the couch and turns on the TV.

There’s Tony on the screen, stepping out of his car and flashing peace signs to the cameras. The crowd on the red carpet is calling for him and he stops to shake a few hands. A woman presses a kiss on his cheek and he grins as he clasps her hand. The ticker at the bottom reads TONY STARK ATTENDS ENERGY CONFERENCE ALONE - TROUBLE IN THE SUPER HOUSEHOLD?

Steve groans and launches a pillow at the television, as if that would change anything. When did life get so complicated?

And that’s when his phone rings. The screen lets him know it’s Tony calling.

“Rogers Pizza Delivery, can I take your order?” he answers.

“Hmm, yes, I’d like an extra large hot slice, with lots of delicious blond cheese,” Tony drawls. “There’s a good tip in it for you if you can get it here quickly.”

“Would you like any toppings?”

“Oh yes, I would _loooove_ a topping.”

“Unfortunately we don’t deliver to your current area,” Steve replies with a laugh. “You’ll need to return to Manhattan.” Tony whines at that. “How’s the conference?”

“Lame,” Tony replies petulantly. “Wish you were here.”

Steve smiles to himself. “Yeah, me too. But some of us have to work for a living.”

“Hey now, I take exception to that. I work very hard to keep you in the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed, mister. But hey,” his voice switches from playful to serious just like that, “speaking of work, I’ve gotta pop over to Manila and take care of a splinter group.”

Steve sinks back into the couch and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’ll come back to New York right after.”

“Yeah, go kick some ass. Love you, Tinman.”

“You too, Spangles.” With that, the call disconnects.

Steve sighs and scrubs a hand over his face. “JARVIS, how is Tony doing?”

“His blood toxicity level is at 12%.” JARVIS sounds worried, if that’s possible for an AI.

“Still no luck finding a replacement for the palladium?”

“I am continuing to run tests, sir.” That’s JARVIS-speak for no, Steve acknowledges with a frown.

***

Steve is in the middle of his morning run the next day when he gets a call from Natasha.

“Got some news on your missing persons case, Steve,” she says flatly.

He stops in his tracks and turns towards home. “Another sighting? Tony’s in Manila. Where should I tell him to meet me?”

“Easy buddy. Just some info, not a mission. At least not right away. We’ll swing by your place for a briefing, alright?”

“Yeah, just gimme time to get home and clean up.”

“See you in twenty,” Natasha confirms, then the call ends.

He’s still toweling off his hair when the doorbell rings. JARVIS opens the door and Steve jogs down the stairs to meet Natasha and Coulson, and he’s a bit surprised to see a third person with them. He must be a special agent, Steve concludes. He certainly isn’t a field operative like Coulson, judging from the torn jeans and faded sleeveless shirt he’s wearing.

“Hi,” Steve greets the group.

“Whoa, they weren’t lying when they said Captain America was a specimen,” the guy says.

“Steve, this is Special Agent Clint Barton,” Natasha says flatly. “Please pay absolutely no attention to anything he says. He has no brain-to-mouth filter.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem, I have plenty of experience with one of those.”

A hint of a smile flickers over Natasha’s face. Coulson presses his lips together, which Steve suspects is his version of laughter.

“There was a sighting,” Coulson says, holding out a thumb drive for Steve to take. He continues as Steve leads them into the library and plugs the drive into the monitor. “The information didn’t reach us until it would have been too late to send anyone, but we did send a cleanup crew to analyze the site.”

The screen fills with images of the wrecked building. It’s hard to make out what had been there with that level of destruction, but there’s one image that jumps out at him and he feels his stomach twist.

There’s a single wall left standing, and painted on it is that horrid red symbol Steve knows far too well. “Hydra?”

“Hydra,” Coulson repeats with a nod. “We’ve compared this data to the previous missions you and Mr. Stark have been on and it lines up. It would seem that the Winter Soldier is hitting Hydra holdouts.”

“I thought we got all of Hydra? We had all that data.”

“The data you and Agent Romanov retrieved allowed us to weed out the Hydra operatives within SHIELD and those operating in the United States, but it didn’t provide much on overseas activities.”

Steve scrubs a hand over his face and takes a closer look at the images. It’s a lot to take in.

“Why would the Winter Soldier be going after them, though?”

“We don’t know. That’s probably something only he can answer.”

“So what’s next?”

Natasha steps forward. “There’s a Hydra base in Eastern Europe that he’s likely to hit next. It’s pretty heavily fortified, which is why Barton and I are coming with you.”

Steve nods. “Alright. I’ll tell Tony to meet us. Where are we headed?”

Natasha swipes across the screen to call up the mission file.

“Budapest?”

“Budapest.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Argh, sorry for the delay - this chapter was seriously hard to write! Action is HARD, guys... But on the bright side, the next chapter is mostly written now too. And will contain a different type of action ;-)
> 
> (Also I'm sorry for the terrible joke Tony makes, except I'm not actually sorry. It had to be done.)

“Hey, Air Cadets!” Tony’s face flickers onto the screen of the quinjet. “I’m just passing over the Caspian, so I should be arriving in Budapest right about the same time as you.”

“We’re two hours out,” Clint says, the question evident in his tone as he leans across the controls to check the screen displaying their locations. 

“Yeah, I’m probably gonna need a snack or something when we get there. Supersonic flight really works up an appetite.”

“No one likes a show-off, Tony,” Steve reprimands with an eye-roll.

“I’m not showing off,” Tony says as the sensors indicate that the suit is rolling through the air, “I would never do such a thing.”

“Yes, and every news report ever made about you would corroborate that,” JARVIS says flatly.

“Pshhh. Alright kids, see you in Budapest. And make sure there are snacks cuz I’ll be-”

“Don’t say it!” Steve interrupts.

“...Hungary,” Tony finishes with a grin. The screen goes black as the video call disconnects.

“I like him,” Clint says.

“Good, you can keep him,” Natasha replies, patting him on the shoulder as she gets up to check her guns again.

***

Tony wolfs down a sandwich while Steve goes over the strategy.

“Hawkeye, I want you up here,” he taps on the map to indicate Barton’s position, “picking off anyone that comes in on us and keeping an eye on their movements. Widow, you and me move in through the south entrance. Try and recover any data we can get. Our primary objective is to take down the base; if we find anything that shows where other bases are located, great.”

“And the Winter Soldier?” Tony says around a mouthful of sandwich.

“If he shows-”

“He’ll show,” Natasha adds curtly.

“-we’ll deal with him _after_ we’ve secured the base. Iron Man, you’re on perimeter patrol and air support. Keep our path clear, and stay on hand.”

“Aye, aye, Captain,” Tony acknowledges with a nod.

“Alright everyone, suit up. We move in in five.”

***

“Alright, we’re in,” Natasha says over the comm line as Steve smashes the door in with his shield. He gives it a solid kick and it flies open.

They’re greeted with gunfire. Four agents, two on either side of the room. Natasha opens fire, taking out the two on the left easily. An arrow whizzes past them through the open door, burying itself in the chest of the third.

“Thanks Hawkeye,” Steve says. “I’ve got the last one, you head on in, Widow.”

She nods as he turns to move in on the remaining agent. His shield connects with the agent’s face with a _crunch_ and he crumples. There’s more gunfire from within the building, where Natasha has just headed. It’s quiet again by the time he gets there, the agents clearly dealt with swiftly. She’s moved ahead towards the control room and Steve is just about to follow when there’s gunfire from behind him. A squad of agents is moving in, at least twenty of them. Shit.

Steve ducks behind his shield as they fire round after round at him. “Iron Man,” he says over the comm line, “I could use some firepower right about now.”

“On my way, Captain.” There’s an explosion in the background, and Steve sees flames engulf the area outside the building. Another blast takes down the outer wall and Iron Man comes bursting through the hole, pulling up to hover in the center of the room. “Hey now, how come I wasn’t invited to this party?”

Most of the agents turn their gunfire to Iron Man, giving Steve the cover he needs to toss his shield and knock out three of them.

“My turn,” Tony says. The shoulder-mounted swarm guns pop up from the suit and fire, taking out the whole group.

“Thanks, Iron Man,” Steve says with a nod.

“Iron Man, we’ve got incoming,” Hawkeye’s voice comes in over the comm line. “Like, a lot. Could use those big guns out there.”

“On my way,” Tony replies, activating his repulsor boots and flying off with a quick salute to Steve.

Steve collects his shield and makes his way towards the control room. “Widow, report.”

“A bit busy,” she replies, the strain evident in her voice. “A lot more activity than expected.” There’s a snap that Steve is pretty sure was a neck.

“On my way,” he says.

“Negative. We gotta cut them off at the source. They seem to be coming from the lab. I got this. You head there.”

An agent appears from behind a door, firing two rounds at Steve’s shield. Steve kicks the agent’s legs out and knocks him out with a swift punch. “On my way.”

There are explosions in quick succession outside as Steve makes his way to the lab. Natasha was right about that being where the agents are coming from. It’s a vast open space, with some sort of assembly line snaking across the room, and there are at least a hundred agents. Steve hops over the metal railing down to the ground floor, knocking out one of the perimeter guards as he lands on him.

“This place is crawling with agents. They must be working on something big here. Anyone wants to come give me some backup,” Steve says as he shoves a crate down onto a group of agents, “feel free to come join in.”

“Robin Hood and I are just wrapping things up out here and then we’ll swoop in for some fun,” Tony says just before another explosion drowns out his voice. 

“Control room clear, I’m uploading the data to JARVIS,” Natasha announces. “On my way ASAP.”

A group of agents comes swarming towards Steve, all of them armed to the teeth. Steve tosses his shield at the group, knocking two of them out, and jumps up, grabbing ahold of the beam of the metal walkway overhead, and uses it to swing himself into an agent feet first. The agent goes down, taking the one behind him down with him, but then there’s a massive metal pipe swinging towards Steve and he feels all the air leave his lungs as it hits him square in the chest. He goes down with a thud and the agents swarm around him. He tries to get up, but there are three agents on each of his arms. He kicks out with his free leg, but it’s not enough. The biggest of the agents pulls out a long device. He grins as he gives it a twist and it sends out sparks of energy. “This is gonna be fun,” the agent says as he jabs it into Steve’s abdomen.

Steve groans at the searing pain. The agent grins and jabs him again.

“Steve!” he hears Tony’s voice over the comm link. “I’m trying to get to you! Hang on!” 

He’s not exactly going anywhere, Steve thinks. There’s another sharp jolt of pain as the agent jabs him a third time. Steve grits his teeth and yanks his arm free, swinging it at the agents around him, but the big one catches it and another clamps a metal hold onto Steve’s wrist. It lights up and his arm is whipped back as the wrist hold magnetizes and attaches to the metal of the machine behind him. The big agent holds up a second wrist hold and he’s just about to clamp it on Steve’s other arm when he crumples backwards with a bullet hole in his forehead. Another one of the agents holding his arm falls, then another until they’re all dead. Steve twists to look up along the trajectory path of the bullets. Perched on one of the higher rafters is a gunner dressed all in black. His face is covered with a mask, long hair falling across his face. There’s a quick flash of silver metal as he pulls the bolt on the rifle, then the shooter disappears from view.

Steve scrambles to his feet, but his arm is still caught in the wrist hold. His shoulder feels dislocated. There’s an agent headed towards him - Steve grabs him by the neck and smashes his head into the machine. He leans back against the wrist hold; there’s a pop as his shoulder slides back into place. The magnet is too strong to pull free from and the pain in his shoulder is blinding. He glances around for his shield and spots it a few feet away. Out of his reach. 

A spray of bullets whizzes past him and he ducks behind the machine he’s attached to. He pulls off a lever from the machine and hurls it at the agent firing at him - it sinks into the agent’s throat and he falls backwards, but there’s more gunfire. Steve ducks for cover again, scanning for something else to use as a projectile as an arrow sails past and slams into one of the machines a few feet behind him. It explodes, sending the agents flying. “Thanks Hawkeye.” He turns to catch a glimpse of Clint and Natasha standing side by side on the metal walkway, each firing at anything that moves, Clint with his bow and Natasha with a gun in each hand and a grin that means she is clearly enjoying this.

An agent runs to where Steve’s shield is lying and picks it up, then there’s a flash of red and gold as Iron Man flies past. He grabs the shield with one hand, fires the repulsor at the agent with the other. “That’s not yours,” he admonishes.

Steve grins as Tony lands in front of him and holds out the shield. “I believe this belongs to you.”

“Why thank you,” Steve says, taking the shield and using its edge to knock off the wrist hold.

“I take it this means bondage is off the table then?” Tony says as he takes off again.

“Aw, guys, no! Open comm line!” Clint yells over the comm line. “This is the open comm line! I don’t need to hear that!”

Tony laughs as he darts around the hall, firing repulsor blasts at any agents and machinery in his path. “Sorry to offend your sensitive sensibilities, Barton.”

“Barton doesn’t have sensibilities,” Natasha says pointedly.

“I do so have sensibilities,” Clint protests. “What I don’t have is an endless supply of arrows. Can we just blow this joint?”

“Yeah, I’m over this,” Tony agrees as he ducks a burst of gunfire. “Call it, Cap.”

“Has the data finished uploading?”

“It has,” JARVIS confirms.

“Alright. Set your charges. Hawkeye, you’re in charge of the heavy machinery. Iron Man, you set charges around the ground floor, then take Hawkeye and get out of here. Widow and I will clear out the rest of this place and meet you at the rendezvous point in five.”

“You got it, Cap,” Clint says with a salute, then he hops down from his elevated position and starts collecting arrows.

The route back out of the building is still heavily guarded by Hydra agents and Natasha and Steve work in tandem to clear the way. She’s an impressive fighter, Steve thinks as she flips an agent nearly twice her size onto his back. Another agent comes up from behind; Steve knocks him out with his shield.

“You alright there, Cap?” Natasha asks when she catches Steve wincing.

“Yeah, fine. Shoulder just still needs a minute to heal.”

Natasha rolls her eyes as she kicks out another agent. Hydra agents just keep appearing. 

“How many of them are there?!” Steve asks rhetorically.

“Cut off one head-” the agent Steve is fighting starts to say but Natasha cuts him off with a jab from her Widow’s Bites.

“Yeah, yeah, we know the spiel. Save it.”

“Widow, Cap,” Clint’s voice comes over the comms. “This place is gonna blow in two minutes. You clear?”

“Almost out, Hawkeye,” Natasha replies. As she says it, a loud explosion rings through the comm line and in the distance behind them. Where Clint and Tony are.

“Aaaagh!” Clint calls out.

“Hawkeye, report!” Steve demands. “Iron Man?”

“The hawk’s hit,” Tony replies. The moment of relief at hearing Tony’s voice is quickly replaced by concern for Clint. “Fucking agent threw a grenade at Hawkeye. But I got ‘im. Hey, hawkface, talk to me, buddy.”

Clint groans in response. There’s another explosion.

“Running outta time,” Tony says. “I’m gonna fly us outta here, hawk. Hold on tight. On our way, Captain.”

Steve turns to Natasha. She looks stricken. Their eyes meet, then she straightens, cracks her neck and reaches down to grab an automatic rifle from a downed Hydra agent. “No more fun and games,” she says, tossing the rifle to Steve and grabbing another one for herself. She kicks open the door to the outside and steps through, gun blazing, taking out any agents unlucky enough to be in range. When she runs out of ammo, she tosses the rifle aside and grabs another.

Steve follows behind her, their backs to one another, firing away as they cross the open courtyard. A delivery van in the middle of the courtyard is providing cover for a cluster of agents firing at them. 

“Can you cover us?” Natasha asks and holds up a smoke bomb. “If we can get close enough, we can smoke them out with this bad boy.”

Steve nods and slings the rifle over his shoulder, holding the shield out in front of them. They take two steps towards the van when a flash of fire streaks past from behind them and the van explodes.

They both turn to find the source of the missile. There’s movement on the roof of one of the buildings on the other side of the courtyard, but then it’s gone. “It’s him,” Natasha says. “The Winter Soldier.”

With the Hydra agents taken care of, Steve and Natasha make it up to the rendezvous point on the building opposite the warehouse just as the first explosions in the lab start, blowing a huge hole in the side of the warehouse.

“Where the hell is Iron Man with Hawkeye?” Natasha says.

Steve frowns and raises his finger to his ear to open the comm line when a streak of red bursts through a second floor window of the warehouse. It’s Tony, holding Clint with both arms wrapped around Clint’s midsection. The suit wavers mid-arm without the hand repulsors to provide stability.

“We’re here,” Tony says as another charge in the warehouse explodes and the roof crumbles.

Gunfire bursts from behind a truck in the courtyard and Tony swerves to avoid the bullets, nearly colliding into a wall in the process. Steve raises his rifle and aims at the source of the gunfire, but the truck is blocking his shot. He fires anyway, his shots tearing into the side of the truck. The gunfire continues undeterred, following Tony, forcing him to spiral upwards.

“Fuuuuuck,” Tony shouts, tightening his hold on Barton as they fly higher.

A single rifle shot rings out from the other end of the courtyard and the gunfire from behind the truck stops immediately. Steve catches a quick glimpse of the man with the face mask where the shot came from before a massive explosion sends a force wave through the courtyard and tears down what remained of the Hydra warehouse. When the smoke clears, the spot the Winter Soldier had been in is empty.

Tony lands a few feet from them, setting Clint down gently. Natasha rushes over to check Clint’s wounds.

“I’m fine,” Clint protests. “Just a few scratches. I’ll live.”

The faceplate of Tony’s suit flips up. “Was that the Winter Soldier?”

Steve nods.

“Well let’s go get him,” Tony says, the repulsors readying to take off again.

“He’s long gone by now,” Natasha says flatly.

“Shiiiiit.” Tony gives the wall of the roof a hard kick, sending bricks tumbling down to the ground below.

“Hey,” Steve says, placing a reassuring hand on Tony’s arm. “We’ll find him. Now we know where to look.”

“Yeah, okay.” He still looks defeated, but he nods. “I gotta get out of this suit,” he says as he heads toward where they left the quinjet.

Clint scrambles to his feet, following after Tony with a slight limp. “Yep, let’s blow this joint.”

Steve turns to survey the rubble of the Hydra warehouse. “You kinda already did.”

When they reach the jet, Clint dumps his bow and empty quiver in the equipment locker and starts running his pre-flight procedure while Natasha and Steve help Tony out of his suit. At home he has the assembly arms to help him, but on the quinjet they’re left doing it the old-fashioned way: screwdrivers.

“Stop fidgeting,” Natasha snarls at Tony.

Steve huffs out a laugh. “That’d be like telling Fury to stop glaring. Not gonna happen.”

Tony pulls off the chestplate and lays it on the ground. “Man, a fight like this really makes me-” 

“Don’t say it!” Steve warns.

“...Hungary,” Tony finishes, grinning at Steve. He steps out of the last repulsor boot and sidles over to Steve, hooking an arm around his waist. “Hey, how ‘bout we stop in Lucerne for some late-night fondue?”

Steve groans as he buries his head in Tony’s chest. “I am literally _never_ going to live that down, am I?”

“Nope.” Tony pops the P as he says it.

“I could go for some fondue,” Clint chimes in, typing the new coordinates into the quinjet’s control panel. “I love cheese.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Glad you all survived the cheesy jokes in the last chapter. Now it's time for fondue! (See what I did there? It never stops.)  
> Thanks for commenting and leaving kudos! It really means the WORLD to me! A great big THANK YOU also goes out to orbingarrow for excellent input and listening to me whine about how hard plots are.  
> And finally, a heads-up: I will be off on vacation for a bit and will probably not be writing too much because I will be too busy visiting, among other things, the fort in AoU where they find Loki's scepter and the Twins. And also eating actual fondue in Switzerland. You can follow along on my adventure [on tumblr](http://imafriendlydalek.tumblr.com/) if you feel so inclined! Or you can, you know, just wait for the next chapter, which will have more angst! More palladium worries! More, uh, other stuff. I don't know what it'll have - I haven't written it yet!

“I know this isn’t gonna be a popular opinion,” Clint says as he dunks a hunk of bread in the cheese sauce, “but I think his objective was the same as ours. He’s going after Hydra.”

Steve nods in agreement. “He shot those agents that had me pinned. They’d have overpowered me if he hadn’t taken them out. And he sniped the one that was shooting at you guys.”

Tony chews his bread in thoughtful silence. They’re huddled around a huge pot of cheese fondue at a very traditionally decorated restaurant in Lucerne with exposed wooden rafters and carved panels along the walls and floral-patterned curtains and seat cushions. The lighting is dim, the three candles on the table providing most of the light in their corner.

The subject of the Winter Soldier’s intentions has clearly been weighing on all their minds in the hours since the battle, but Tony’s most of all. “Well he didn’t exactly stick around for the nice-to-meet-yous, so he obviously doesn’t want to play ball.”

“What if he’s trying to make good?” Steve suggests carefully.

Tony bunches up his napkin and leans back in his chair. “Bit late for that, dontcha think?”

“Whoever he is under the mask,” Natasha says, her lips drawn thin, “he was working on someone’s orders when he killed your parents, Tony. It’s unlikely that he did it out of ill will towards them.”

“What makes you so sure of that?”

“Nothing is ever sure in this business. But I’ve seen him in action before. He’s an efficient killer, ruthless, but not malicious.” Steve and Tony both send her questioning looks, so she continues. “A couple years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran and somebody shot at my tires. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me.” She pulls up her shirt to reveal a scar in her abdomen. “Bye bye bikinis.”

“Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now,” Steve says flatly.

Clint raises an eyebrow.

“What?” Steve shrugs. “I might be gay but I’m not blind.”

Tony grins as he pops a piece of cheese-covered bread in his mouth.

“She must like you, Cap,” Clint says. “She’d kill me or Tony if we said that. Literally.”

“So why do you think he’s doing it now, Nat? Why’s he going after Hydra?”

“I think he’s trying to figure it out on his own now that he has no one to take orders from. He’s been taking orders for years, after all. Fifty, if you believe the reports. And the fact that he’s taking out Hydra bases now shows that he wasn’t operating for them then because he was a believer.”

Tony chews thoughtfully, then nods his head slightly. He raises a hand to his face and tries to hide a yawn. The hollows around his eyes are dark and Steve is suddenly reminded that Tony had flown halfway around the world from another fight before today’s mission.

“Come on,” he says softly, placing a hand on Tony’s wrist. “Let’s get to bed.”

“Aw, again with the - OW!” Clint starts, but he’s interrupted by an elbow to the ribs from Natasha.

“It’s been a long day,” she says.

***

Tony is quiet during the cab ride to their hotel. Steve reaches over and takes his hand, turning it over to run his fingers over Tony’s wrist. He watches as Tony closes his eyes and lets his head fall onto Steve’s shoulder. Steve has learned to recognize the signs of exhaustion in his lover, even when Tony refuses to admit to them, and he’s worked out how to slow Tony down enough to get some rest. The battle’s been fought; now is the time to recharge.

They say goodnight to Natasha and Clint as the agents step off the elevator to head to their respective rooms. Once they’re alone in the elevator, Tony slumps back against Steve, Steve wraps his arms around Tony’s stomach and brings his head down to rest his chin on Tony’s shoulder. “I gotcha,” he says softly. The elevator dings as the door opens on their floor and Steve lets go of Tony to pull out the keycard for their room. It’s a generously sized suite, sumptuously decorated with damask wallpaper in pastel hues and silk upholstery. French doors open onto a rooftop terrace overlooking the lake - Steve makes a mental note to take in the view in the morning. Tony beelines for the massive bed, flopping onto it face first, still fully clothed.

“At least take your shoes off first,” Steve chides, pulling off Tony’s sneakers. Tony groans in response, rolls over onto his back and wiggles out of his pants. He kicks them off and they fall into a heap on the floor, joined soon after by his shirt. Steve bends down to pick the clothes up, laying them carefully next to his own over the arm of a chair. He settles into the bed next to Tony, who rolls onto his side and presses kisses into Steve’s neck in a rather uncoordinated manner.

“Tony,” Steve says in his Captain voice, “you need to sleep.”

Tony whines in response. “It’s a hotel. We basically have to have sex. Hotel sex is the best. Everyone knows that.”

Steve chuckles and strokes a hand over Tony’s cheek. “Not if you fall asleep during. Plus I’m pretty sure morning sex is actually the best.”

Tony doesn’t reply - he’s already asleep. Steve watches him for a few moments. The lines around the reactor casing have spread over his chest, reaching almost across his sternum. Steve lets out a deep breath, tries to tell himself not to worry about it. Tony will figure it out. He leans forwards and brushes a kiss over Tony’s forehead, then curls around Tony and closes his eyes. 

***

Tony is still asleep when Steve wakes up, so he pulls the tablet from his bag and tugs on a sweatshirt before heading out to the terrace. He opens the drawing app and starts to sketch the view of the lake, but his mind keeps wandering back to the lines on Tony’s chest. The thought of losing Tony, of having to go on without him…

He swipes away the sketch with a sigh.

The terrace door opens and he hears soft footsteps on the tiles, then a pair of arms wraps around him from behind and Tony nuzzles into the side of his neck.

“Hey,” Tony says.

“Hey yourself,” Steve replies.

“I believe,” Tony says as he kisses along Steve’s neck to nip at his earlobe, “that I was promised hotel room morning sex.”

Steve turns his head to catch Tony’s mouth in a kiss. He pulls Tony down into his lap, Tony following eagerly. Tony runs a hand through Steve’s hair and pulls him closer to deepen the kiss. There’s a ferocity to Tony’s movements, the kind of insistence that only comes out after they’ve been on a mission together, as if he needs to feel that they’re both still alive. Steve is happy to give in to it, sliding a hand to Tony’s ass and hitching him closer. Tony grinds into the movement, letting out a quiet groan at the friction as his hardening cock rubs against Steve’s stomach. He takes Steve’s face in both hands as his tongue darts out, exploring Steve’s mouth, and he bucks his hips forwards.

“Come on,” he says when he pulls away, “let’s take this inside. It’s freezing out here.”

Tony gets up and tugs Steve to his feet, leading him back into the room. He stops at his bag and rummages around in it for a moment before producing a bottle of lube. Steve smiles. “Prepared for anything, I see.”

“It’s important to be prepared,” Tony replies, his tone serious, as he steps towards Steve. He leans up for a kiss, but Steve takes a step back. He runs a finger along the hem of Tony’s shirt. 

“You are far too dressed for an endeavor like this.”

Tony grins and shucks his boxers, then pulls his shirt over his head, dropping it on the floor. Steve raises an eyebrow at him and he responds with an eyeroll. “I am not folding my clothes when there is sex to be had. Besides, who’s the overdressed one now?”

Steve raises his arms and lets Tony pull off his shirt, catching his mouth for a kiss once his head is free. He wraps an arm around Tony’s back, pulling him close, enjoying the feel of skin on skin. “Get in the bed,” he commands, letting go again.

Tony quirks a smile. “Roger that.” He sits down on the edge of the bed; Steve steps close between Tony’s knees, cupping his face as he leans down for a deep kiss. He slides his hand to the small of Tony’s back, lifting Tony as he moves them both to the middle of the bed. Tony lets out a whimper as Steve lays him back down, straddling Tony’s hips. Steve catches Tony’s mouth in a kiss, deep and sensuous, his lips lingering against Tony’s when they finally pull apart. Steve smiles, then pulls back to look into Tony’s eyes.

“I love you so much, Tony.”

“Love you back,” Tony replies. “More than you can imagine.”

Steve bends down to place a kiss on Tony’s jawline, the side of his neck, his collarbone. He carefully skirts past the reactor, instead swirling his tongue around Tony’s nipple, eliciting a soft sigh from his lover. He bites playfully at the soft skin of Tony’s side as he takes hold of Tony’s hips, digging his thumbs into his hip bones. 

Tony lets out an encouraging groan. “Jesus fuck,” he mumbles. “You’re killing me, Rogers.”

Steve chuckles. “Kill ‘em with kindness. It’s in the Army handbook.” He nips at Tony’s hipbone, a careful mix of bite and kiss.

“Is not,” Tony groans. “I’ve read it.” He cards his hand through Steve’s hair as Steve nuzzles his way down to Tony’s dick. “This is pretty effective, though. I - fuck - I surrender,” Tony grinds out as Steve licks along the length of Tony’s cock, then takes him in his mouth. Steve chuckles, knowing full well what the vibrations will do to Tony. He swirls his tongue around the tip, pleased with himself as Tony’s eyes roll back and his head falls back against the mattress. 

“Fuck, Steve, missed you so much. Hate being away from you so long. And not just cuz blowjobs.”

Steve pulls away and huffs out a laugh. “Oh yeah? What else then?”

“Nnnnh,” Tony whines. “Didn’t mean you should stop. But... “ Tony reaches to grab Steve by the shoulder and drag him up to eye level, their bodies slotting into each other. “I can think of some other ways to have fun. Why the hell are you still wearing underwear?” Tony says suddenly, hitching a hand under the elastic of Steve’s briefs. “We need to fix that. Luckily,” he says as he tugs them down, “that’s what I do. I fix things.”

Steve kicks off his briefs, letting them fall to the floor next to Tony’s clothes. Tony sends him a look, at which Steve shrugs. “Can’t follow the rules all the time.”

“Captain! I am dismayed!” Tony says, the mocking tone evident in his voice. “Shocked! Appalled! Scandalized!”

“Tony Stark, scandalized,” Steve laughs into the side of Tony’s neck, then pulls away to meet Tony’s eyes. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a first.”

“Oh shut up and fuck me,” Tony says, pinching Steve’s ass.

“Sure thing,” Steve says with a smile.

“For you, sugarcookie, I most certainly am,” Tony grins.

***

Steve looks out over the lake while Tony takes a shower to clean up. He exhales, watching his breath swirl in the cold air. He doesn’t want to go back to New York. New York means reality, it means dealing with protesters and share prices and paparazzi and above all, it means having to worry about the palladium problem.

He wishes he could just stay here with Tony forever.

But all the wishes in the world can’t make those lines on Tony’s chest go away, he thinks as he turns and heads back inside.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At long last, another chapter! Sorry for the delay - I was busy exploring Europe and doing RL stuff. Also sorry this is shorter than usual - but shorter is better than nothing, right?  
> Many thanks go to orbingarrow for betaing and also to everyone for comments and kudos, as always! You guys are awesome!

Tony seems really tired when they finally get back to the Mansion, which is a bit surprising since he slept through most of the flight. It had been a long few days, though, Steve tells himself and tries not to worry.

When Tony stumbles on the steps up to the door and has to catch himself on the banister, that’s when Steve allows himself to worry. He half carries, half drags Tony inside, helping him sit down on a chair in the entry foyer.

“JARVIS?” he calls out.

“Sir, another core has been depleted. It seems that the continued use of the Iron Man suit is depleting the cores faster and accelerating your condition. Captain Rogers, you’ll find replacement cores in the drawer of the desk in the workshop.”

Steve frowns as he heads down to the workshop. Another? “JARVIS,” he asks once he’s out of earshot, “how long has this been going on?”

“I’m afraid I have been instructed not to divulge this information. But you’ll find that the box containing the replacement cores is already missing two.”

Sure enough, there are two empty slots next to the other replacement cores. Steve grabs the box and runs back to where he left Tony, taking the steps three at a time.

Tony has already unscrewed the arc reactor and is holding it out in front of him. He knocks out the smoking core and slots in the replacement.

Steve blinks at the burnt-out core and the smoke coming up from it. “You had that in your _chest_? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t want you to worry,” Tony says with a shrug as he slides the reactor back into place in his chest. He pulls himself to his feet and smiles, the fake kind of smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “See? Good as new.”

Steve watches in silence as Tony walks away.

***

“Steve.”

He turns at the sound of his name to see Pepper and Rhodey, both with their arms crossed, leaning over him. It's a slightly frightening sight. 

“Hey guys,” he says hesitantly, pulling his headphones off and setting down his drafting stylus. “What’s up?” 

“Walk with us,” Pepper orders, and Steve scrambles to his feet to follow. She leads them to one of the lesser-used lounges on the sixth floor, where she settles in one of the chairs and gestures for Steve and Rhodey to do the same.

“Steve, we’ve been pretty much best friends for what, six years now?” 

“Yeah sounds about right...” 

“And we tell each other just about everything-” 

“Everything?” Rhodey interjects as Steve nods. 

“Or at least I thought that's how it worked.” Pepper purses her lips at him in a way that would probably make even Natasha worry.

“I’m not sure I follow,” Steve tries.

“I’ve known Tony for almost ten years, so I know pretty well how he ticks,” Rhodey pipes up. “At least as well as _anyone_ can know what he’s gonna do from one day to the next.”

Steve nods in agreement. Tony can be a bit unpredictable. 

“Is this about the engagement?” Steve asks. “Because if it is, I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner, it was just kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing and then all the other stuff happened and it kind of-”

“It's not about that, Steve,” Pepper interrupts with a wave of her hand. “Although it did also make us wonder what this is about all the other _unexpected_ things Tony has done lately.” 

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s start with how when I warned him that the military was after his suit and General Ross was gonna try to get it, he basically gave me one. With the caveat that only I can use it, of course, but still…”

“And how he donated our Keith Haring collection to the Boy Scouts of America,” Pepper adds. 

Steve chuckles at that. “I think that was just to piss them off because of their exclusionist policy towards the LGBT community.” 

“That’s probably true. But why now?” 

Steve shrugs. “End-of-the-year tax write-off?”

“He offered to make me CEO,” Pepper says flatly.

Steve blinks for moment. “He did?”

“Yup. I said I was trying to run his company and he said I should keep doing it because he won't always be able to and then he said he wanted to appoint me CEO and Dummy brought us champagne. Didn't even spill it.”

“Wow that’s... Did you accept it?”

“Well of course I did, but that’s not the point.”

“It’s not?”

“The point is,” Rhodey says, “we know something’s up with Tony and we want to know what it is.” 

Steve leans back and shoves his hands in his pockets. “That’s something he needs to tell you himself,” he says, resigned. “It isn’t my place to tell.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Rhodey asks, the concern clear in his voice. 

Steve shrugs. “Sorry guys. All I can say is I will do my best to encourage him to tell you, and ask you to be patient with him.”

“He met with the Head of Legal yesterday to update his will,” Pepper says, and Steve’s heart freezes. 

He takes a deep breath and flexes his fingers, which he unwittingly been clenching. “I’ll talk to him. I just- I’ll see what I can do.”

Rhodey reaches out and gives Steve’s shoulder a friendly pat. “Thanks man. We’re worried about him, you know.”

_So am I_ , Steve thinks. He forces a smile instead. “Thanks guys. So when are we going to have drinks to celebrate Pepper’s big news?”

“Tomorrow night. We're going dancing. Wear party clothes; bring a date,” Pepper replies with a smile.

“You got it, boss.” 

***

A few hours later, Steve is getting ready to head home and stops by Tony’s office on his way out. Chances are pretty slim that Tony will be leaving on time today - he has a lot to catch up on since their trip to Budapest, plus the end-of-the-year push and also apparently transferring responsibilities to Pepper - but Steve wants to at least check in and say hi. 

As suspected, Tony is hunched over his desk, pouring over paperwork. His tie is loosened and his hair is a mess. It’s an unusual look for him at the office, where he’s usually pretty put-together. A glass with the remainder of the chlorophyll smoothie is sitting on the desk next to him. 

“Knock knock,” Steve says, lingering in the doorway. Tony glances up, his frazzled look fading when he recognizes Steve.

“Who’s there?”

“A concerned citizen.”

“A concerned citizen who?” Tony picks up the glass and drains the rest of its contents. 

“A concerned citizen who thinks you need to tell your friends what’s going on,” Steve says, stopping as he comes around Tony’s desk and leaning against it. 

Tony rolls his chair over and lets his head slump against Steve’s stomach. Steve reaches out to card his fingers through Tony’s hair. 

“That’s the worst knock-knock joke I’ve ever heard, and believe me, I have heard quite a few. Rhodey is terrible at puns.”

“It’s not a joke, Tony.”

Tony pushes back and folds his hands in his lap. “Yeah, okay. Did they put you up to this? Send you in here to get you to use your wiles on me?”

“Tony-” Steve starts, then stops. Arguing the point will only make Tony pull away farther, Steve knows. He doesn’t like it, but he knows now isn’t the time to push. “They’re your friends, Tony. They care about you. They deserve to know.”

Steve watches as Tony spins his chair around three times before he stops, facing towards the window. He says nothing for a long time, then he turns back to his desk and waves a hand dismissively.

“I have a lot of paperwork to get through, so…” He doesn’t finish the sentence, but the message is clear. He’s kicking Steve out.

“Yeah, okay. See you tonight.” Steve brushes a kiss on the top of Tony’s head before turning to leave. Tony doesn’t reply.


	8. Chapter 8

Tony does finally tell Pepper and Rhodey what was going on, thankfully. The news doesn’t go down too well, which is to be expected, of course, but they’ve all agreed not to bring it up that evening when they’re out celebrating Pepper’s promotion two nights later. It’s Pepper’s big day, so she gets to choose the itinerary for the evening, which means dinner at that new molecular gastronomy restaurant everyone’s been talking about followed by drinks and dancing at a swing dancing club.

“Steeeve,” Tony whines when Steve shakes his head no after Tony motions for him to come dance. “I can’t believe I am dating a guy who lived through the thirties but doesn’t know how to swing dance!”

“I never learned!”

“Come on,” Pepper says, taking Tony’s hand. “It’s you and me then.”

Steve turns to catch Rhodey’s glance, who responds by raising his fist for Steve to bump.

“Non-swingers for life, bro.”

“Holla that.”

Rhodey glares at Steve and shakes his head. “Nope. Just, no.”

Five dances are enough to make Tony declare that he needs “a whole hell of a lot more drinks” to go on, so Pepper agrees that they can move on to another club. They eventually end up at a bar in the Village that they’re wildly overdressed for. Tony and Rhodey don’t let that hold them up, though, and soon Tony’s buying drinks for the whole bar. He’s smiling more than he has in the past days, so Steve leans against the bar next to Pepper to watch the spectacle.

“I think he just made like twenty new friends.”

Steve turns to find the source of the voice behind him and sees Sam standing behind him.

“Hi,” he greets.

“Hi. Wouldn’t have thought this’d be the type of place I’d run into the likes of Tony Stark.”

Steve lets out a huff, smiling as he tugs at his tie to loosen it slightly. “Yeah, well, he’s not nearly as classy as the press makes him out to be. Pepper, this is Sam Wilson. Sam, Pepper Potts.”

“How you doing?” Sam greets, a flirtatious twinkle in his eye.

Steve tries to hide a smile as Pepper cocks her head at him and replies coolly “Nice to meet you, Sam Wilson.” 

“Care to join us? We appear to have lost our dates to the bar,” Steve says, nodding to where Tony and Rhodey are surrounded by a cheering crowd.

“I think I did too,” Sam replies, gesturing towards a brunette in a short skirt accepting a drink from Tony.

“We should start a club,” Pepper says. “I’ll go get us some drinks. Apparently Tony is buying.”

Pepper gets up to go to the bar, which catches Tony’s attention and he saunters over.

“Hey there,” he says with a slight slur and flashes his press grin as he puts a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“Tony, this is Sam Wilson. He works at the VA.”

“Oh yeah, the guy who saved you from Hammer.” Tony relaxes and his smile softens to a genuine one as he offers Sam a handshake. “Anyone who makes Justin Hammer look bad is A-OK in my book.”

“Guy seemed like a total dick.”

Tony grins as he hands Sam a shot glass.

***

“Hey, Captain, nice cumberbatch,” Clint says with a wink towards Steve’s tuxedo. Steve catches himself subconsciously smoothing down his shirt.

“Cumber _bund_ ,” Natasha corrects. She is the epitome of stunning in a dark blue evening gown that clings to her curves in ways that make Steve’s fingers itch for his drawing pencils.

“Bund, James Cumberbund.”

Natasha rolls her eyes. “I really don’t know why I keep bringing you to this sort of thing, Barton. You’re not fit for polite society.”

Steve can’t help but smile. “I’m pretty sure I’ve had exactly this same conversation with Tony about a hundred times.”

“Speaking of, where is the man of the hour?” Sam asks.

“He insisted on making a dramatic entrance.” Steve points to the sky as he says it, where a streak of light is approaching quickly. “That’s my cue - see you guys inside.”

He jogs up the steps to the platform, where Pepper and Rhodey as well as the Stark Industries Board of Executives are all lined up behind the red ribbon spanned in front of the entrance to the now-completed Stark Tower. Steve takes his place next to Pepper just as Iron Man swoops in, landing with a heavy thud on one knee in front of Steve, one gauntleted hand punching the ground and the other stretched out towards him.

“Hey studmuffin,” Tony says as the faceplate flips up. He’s grinning from ear to ear.

“Hey yourself. You’re late.”

“A wizard is never late, Steve-o Baggins. He arrives precise-”

Pepper glares at Tony and he stops mid-sentence. He stands up and turns to the crowd, one gauntlet raised to the sky in a peace sign, as hundreds of camera flashes go off.

“Hello New York! Thank you for coming out tonight. Sorry I didn’t stick to the dress code. Hey, it’s a suit though.”

Steve steps over and loops the necktie he had in his pocket around Tony’s neck. Tony smiles as Steve ties it.

“Thanks dear.” He brushes his hand over the small of Steve’s back before turning back to the crowd. 

“Now, I’m not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me. I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history. I’m not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven’t come across anyone who’s man enough to go toe-to-toe with me and Steve on our best day. But that’s not why we’re here tonight.

We’re here to celebrate the opening of the new headquarters of Stark Industries. This tower - it says Stark up there, but it’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s not even about us. It’s about legacy. It’s about what we choose to leave behind for future generations. That’s why I’m passing on the proverbial sceptre of Stark Industries to Pepper Potts so that this company will always be in capable hands when I’m off superheroing or, you know, revolutionizing green energy. That’s why this tower was designed to have zero carbon emissions, to be a beacon of sustainable energy. That’s why Stark Industries has chosen New York as its global headquarters, where we can bring the best and brightest men and women together to pool their knowledge, to share their collective vision, to leave behind a brighter future. It's not about us. Therefore, what I’m saying, if I’m saying anything, is welcome to Stark Tower!”

It’s a rousing speech, and if Steve didn’t know why Tony was so pre-occupied with legacy, he’d think Tony Stark had hit a philosophical streak. But Steve knows the true reasoning behind it, and he has to fight to keep a smile on his face for the press.

A ridiculously large pair of scissors is being held out to Tony, but he gestures for Pepper to take them. “This is _your_ baby,” he tells her, just loud enough for those on the platform to hear.

Pepper smiles as she cuts through the ribbon. Fireworks shoot out of the top of the tower as the ribbon falls to the ground and the opening chords of a loud rock anthem come through the speakers.

***

“This is quite the party,” Sam says, leaning up against the pillar next to where Steve is standing. 

“Tony loves epic shindigs,” Steve agrees. He’s withdrawn a bit from the crowd, preferring to watch the goings-on from the outskirts for a while. Tony has been making the rounds all night; his bowtie has come undone and he’s just teetering on the edge of had-a-few-too-many but he seems to be holding up for now. Pepper and Rhodey are out on the dancefloor, as are Clint and Natasha.

“You seem to have hit it off with our publicist,” Steve remarks. It had been amusing to watch Sam trying to flirt with Ana and get shut down. He was persistent, though, and eventually she’d relented and agreed to a dance.

“Yeah, she’s great,” Sam replies with a smile. 

The music stops abruptly and Tony’s voice comes over the speakers. “This one’s for you, Toastyslice.” 

Steve whips his head around to see that Tony’s gotten ahold of a microphone and is standing up at the DJ’s table. He feels his ears redden as Tony starts to sing.

_I, I will be king_  
_And you, you will be queen_  
_Though nothing will drive them away_  
_We can beat them, just for one day_  
_We can be heroes, just for one day_

Okay, so maybe Tony has passed the line into drunkenness. Steve makes his way across the dancefloor towards Tony.

_And you, you can be mean_  
_And I, I’ll drink all the time_  
_‘Cause we’re lovers, and that is a fact_  
_Yes we’re lovers, and that is that_

He finally reaches Tony and smiles as he takes the microphone from Tony. “Thanks hun,” he says into the mic before handing it back to the DJ.

“We can be heeeeroes,” Tony says, sinking into Steve’s arms. Wistfully, he adds “Just for one day.”

“We can be heroes,” Steve repeats. “Come on, let’s go be heroes at home.”

“Nooo, party’s here,” Tony objects half-heartedly as Steve and Rhodey lead him off the dancefloor. 

***

“Nrrrgh,” Tony groans as he stumbles into Steve’s painting studio late the next afternoon and sinks into the armchair.

“Hey there, hero,” Steve says as he sets down his paintbrush and crosses the room to join Tony.

Tony covers his face in his hand. “Oh god. I definitely don’t feel heroic. Fuck.”

Steve slips an arm around Tony’s shoulder and Tony leans into the touch.

“I’m scared, Steve. I’m so fucking scared.” He looks up, his eyes are darting around the room as if unable to settle on one thing. The black lines are edging out from under Tony’s collar, slowly creeping up his neck.

Steve gives his shoulder a squeeze to draw him closer.

“I know, Tony. Me too.”

“I don’t know what’s happening to me. I don’t know what I’m gonna do. I take the arc reactor out, I die. I leave it in, I die.” He turns to face Steve, his gaze finally settling on him. “I don’t want to die.”

Steve can feel his eyes starting to water. He blinks it back. “You’re not gonna die.” 

“I don’t know what to do. I can’t fix it. I don’t know.” Tony is shaking in his embrace. This is the man who built a flying suit of armor to escape kidnapping, who revolutionized green energy while he was trapped in a cave, who built an AI in his spare time. He’s never not known the answer to something before. He’s only twenty-one years old, for Pete’s sake - far too young to die.

Steve isn’t going to let that happen, he resolves, wiping away the tear that rolled down his cheek. “Tony, if there’s one thing I know about you, it’s that there is no such thing as a question you can’t work out the answer to. I’m not gonna let you start here. Come on.” He pulls his arms away reluctantly and rises to his feet, stretching one hand out to Tony for him to take. “There’s gotta be an answer, and we’re gonna find it. Together.”

Tony sighs, takes his hand and lets Steve pull him to his feet. “I’ve tried everything. There’s no viable replacement.”

“There has to be. And if there isn’t, we’ll… I dunno, we’ll make one.”

“Ohmygod, Rogers, you really are the most stubborn man alive.”

Steve pulls him close, wrapping his arms around him. Tony feels skinny - he’s lost muscle mass. _He’s withering_. The thought flickers through Steve’s mind but he pushes it back down quickly. “I’m not gonna stand by and watch you die. Not when there’s a chance. Now come on, get thee to the lab’rat’ry.”

Tony snorts. “Yes, sir. Though you of all people should know,” he adds with a wink, “that my lab is anything but a nunnery.”

“Oh, I know. And I intend to keep it that way. Which is why _you_ need to get to work.”

***

Steve and Sam are having lunch in the kitchen of the new penthouse in Stark Tower that he and Tony are going to be moving into when a call from Natasha comes in. He beams the video connection to one of the screens on the wall - he’s not ashamed to admit that he’s pretty impressed by all the tech the new apartment has.

“We got a mission, Cap. Bratislava awaits.”

He crosses his arms and leans back against the counter. It was bound to happen, even though he’d been hoping to avoid this. “We’re gonna have to do it without aerial support. Tony’s in no condition for a mission.”

“I can help with that,” Sam says as he twirls his pasta.

They both turn to look at him, Natasha’s lips quirking up in a smile. “Was wondering when you’d join the party, Wilson.”

Steve shoots Sam and then Natasha a confused look. Natasha’s face disappears from the screen and is replaced by a military file detailing a shelved pararescue project called EXO-7.

“This was you?” He swipes through the file, then closes it again to bring back Natasha.

Sam nods. “If you guys already knew that,” he says with a nod to Natasha, “I assume you also are aware where my wingpack is being stored.”

“That won’t be a problem,” she replies with a mischievous smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Tony karaokes is David Bowie's Heroes. The Cumberbatch/cumberbund joke is shamelessly stolen from the Matt Fraction Hawkeye book (which is awesome and everyone should read).


	9. Chapter 9

Steve is coiled with anticipation as the quinjet approaches the Hydra base in Bratislava. He’s been pouring over the data SHIELD has compiled and it looks likes it’s going to be a tough fight. The satellite photos indicate that the base is ringed by anti-aircraft turrets, which wouldn’t have been a problem for Iron Man. Sam had taken one look at the photos and said “I got this” with a convincing air of confidence, and Steve doesn’t doubt it, but he doesn’t have the benefit of armoring that Tony’s suit does.

“Alright Falcon, you’re up,” Natasha says when they’re close enough. Clint presses the button to open the loading door while Sam double-checks his gear.

“See you guys inside,” he says as he flips down his goggles and leaps from the plane. He free-falls for a few seconds before unfurling his wings, and it’s really a sight to see. Steve watches on the screen as he weaves around the gunfire from the turrets before diving down to drop a grenade onto each turret, taking them out one by one.

Once the outer turrets are down, Natasha brings the quinjet in closer to the base, swinging around so the loading door is facing the base. Clint is perched on the door, his bowstring drawn taut. He waits for Natasha to line the quinjet up and lets the arrow fly. The heavy gun sitting on the roof of the base is easily 700 yards away, but the arrow hits its mark and the explosive tip detonates on impact.

“Boo-yah,” Clint says flatly, already notching the next arrow.

Sam and Clint take out the remaining aerial defense guns so the quinjet can get close enough to drop Natasha and Steve into the action. They set off, beating their way into the base while Clint and Sam pick off Hydra agents outside. It’s a mess, but the team handles it well, and they’ve got the situation more-or-less under control.

Until it all goes to hell.

First the building Clint’s perched on explodes, crumbling in a cloud of dust, but luckily Sam manages to pull Clint out just in time. 

Then Steve finds himself between about twenty Hydra agents and a concrete wall, but Natasha tosses one of her flash bombs into the group, giving Steve exactly that second he needs to get the jump on them and take them out.

He could swear a few of them go down with bullet wounds, but he’s too caught up in the fray to question whether those shots were fired by Natasha or not.

Except Natasha’s wrapped up in a handfight on the other end of the warehouse. Steve looks up to the rafters to see the gunman they’d seen in Budapest, the one with the metal arm.

“He’s here,” he hisses into the comms. “The Winter Soldier.”

As if he’d heard them, the Winter Soldier disappears and Steve finds himself too busy fighting Hydra agents to look where he’s gone.

“Widow, head to the server room and recover what you can. Falcon, Hawkeye, set your charges. Once Widow’s clear, let’s blow this place.”

“Music to my ears,” Clint acknowledges.

“On my way,” Natasha says, and a crunch in the background tells Steve she’s taken care of the agents she’d been fighting.

Steve’s setting a charge at the base of one of the support pillar when a shot rings out through the warehouse. Searing hot pain tears through his right arm. “Fuuuuuuuuu-” he cries out, the rest of the word swallowed as the pain takes hold.

“I’m hit,” he grunts just before an agent appears, his arm already swinging towards Steve’s face. He has just enough time to bring up his other arm and there’s a crunch of shattering bones as the agent’s fist connects with Steve’s shield. Steve kicks out his legs and the agent goes down, but so does Steve, and he tries to catch himself with his arm when he’s painfully reminded of the gunshot wound.

He hits the ground hard and a swarm of agents is on him before he can get up. He manages to kick off two of them, but there’s more. It’s as if they’d learned from the agents in Budapest how to overpower him, Steve thinks as he sees an agent coming towards him with one of those magnetic wrist holds.

“Not this time,” he growls, kicking his legs up and forwards to propel himself up, pointedly ignoring the pain in his arm as he lands a punch on one of the agents and smashes another with his shield in his other hand.

A taser flashes brightly, held by an agent lunging towards him, but then the agent stops abruptly and crumples. Standing behind him is the Winter Soldier, a bloody knife in his hand.

“Thanks,” Steve exhales as he parries an attack from another agent.

The Winter Soldier inclines his head slightly in acknowledgement while he smashes his metal fist into a Hydra agent’s face.

“Data secured,” Natasha announces over the comms. “Let ‘er blow, boys.”

“Set the charges to five minutes. Let’s get out of here.” Steve signals to the Winter Soldier that they should move out. He’s still not sure whose side the Soldier is fighting on, but he’s helped them out often enough that Steve isn’t going to let him get caught in the explosion.  
The Soldier nods and points towards an unguarded door on the upper floor for them to exit through. Steve grimaces at the thought of vaulting up to the walkway above them with his injured arm when the Soldier holds out his arms, fingers laced together to form a step to give Steve a boost up. Steve latches his shield onto his back and steps into the Soldier’s hands, grabbing onto the railing with his good left arm to drag himself up. He turns once he’s up to extend his hand to the Winter Soldier, but he’s already leapt up, grabbing onto the railing with his metal arm and vaulting easily over it onto the walkway. He pushes past Steve and punches open the door as Steve fights off an agent coming towards them. 

Another agent rushes forward and there’s only barely enough time for Steve to yell “Look out!” before the agent smashes a bully club into the Winter Soldier’s abdomen. Steve hears a low grunt, but his focus is quickly turned back to the agent he’s fighting when the agent whips out a taser. Steve pushes into the agent with his shield, knocking him backwards over the railing. 

“Two minutes,” Clint’s voice comes over the comm line. “Clear out, Cap.”

“Coming,” he grunts in reply, already heading for the door.

The Winter Soldier follows him out, and he’s firing at the agents coming up behind them. They’re on the roof, with no cover from the return fire from the agents. It’s not too high a drop to the ground, though, and they just need to get across the open space below to be clear.

An arrow whizzes past and slams into the chest of one of the agents, followed by Falcon swooping down. He dispatches two agents with a headshot each as his wings tuck back up.

“Hey Cap, need a lift?”

The Winter Soldier whips around to stare at Falcon menacingly, and Falcon raises his pistol at him, but Steve holds up his arm to steady him.

“He’s on our side,” he says. “Or at least he’s not on their side.”

“Thirty seconds,” Black Widow warns. “Get outta there, boys.”

Falcon nods at Steve. “Looks like you could use a lift.”

Steve glares at Falcon but shrugs in acceptance. “Yeah, thanks.”

The Winter Soldier is already running towards the edge of the roof, vaulting over it as Falcon and Steve soar overhead. 

Falcon deposits Steve next to the others in the courtyard before swooping back to get the Winter Soldier. Hawkeye is busily sniping off Hydra agents firing down at the Soldier as he runs towards them. 

The charges go off before Falcon can make it to him, and the force of the blast knocks both of them backwards. Steve takes off running towards them, Widow right behind him, but he pulls up short just before he reaches them.

The Soldier’s face mask must have came off when he was knocked down. Steve knows that frown, but - that’s impossible, isn’t it? 

It feels like his world is collapsing around him, and he’s not sure what’s going on anymore.

“Bucky?”

“Who the hell is Bucky?” the Winter Soldier growls, and then there’s another explosion in the building that surrounds them in a cloud of dust. When it clear enough to see through, the Winter Soldier is gone.

***

“Are you sure it was him?” Tony asks somewhat incredulously. 

Which is understandable. ‘I think my best friend who I saw plummet to his death in 1944 might actually still be alive’ is not something that usually comes up over dinner.

Steve nods. He’d recognize that face anywhere. And this isn’t one of those phantom recognitions he’s had either, where he thinks he sees someone from his old life - it definitely was Bucky.

Tony lets out a long breath and scrubs a hand over his face, blinking in disbelief. “Shit.”

All thoughts of Bucky are quickly wiped from Steve’s mind when he sees the lines creeping up Tony’s neck. His eyes sweep over Tony, taking in the full extent of his condition. 

He looks tired, in a way he hasn’t since that one time in MIT when he stayed up more-or-less for a week working on a project, not unlike the haggard look he’d had when he came back from Afghanistan.

His fork is laid aside next to his plate of mac and cheese - he’s only eaten a few bites. Which is reason enough for concern on its own, since there are a few things Tony will never say no to, and mac and cheese is near the top of that list.

Steve reaches out to take Tony’s hand. “I missed you.”

“I should have been there with you,” Tony replies, not looking up. He’s leaning on one hand, as if his head is too heavy to hold up on its own.

“You should have,” Natasha says, appearing out of nowhere and sliding into the booth next to Tony. They both look up to see Nick Fury standing over them just before the director settles into the booth next to Steve.

“What are you doing here?” Tony shoots at him, shrinking into the corner of the booth as Natasha moves closer. “We already said we didn’t want to join your weird little hunting group.”

“That’s not why I’m here. I need you to get back to work-”

“I am working!” Tony interrupts.

“-and I need to talk to Steve about some developments I could use his help with out in New Mexico. I’ve already sent Agent Coulson and Hawkeye out there.”

“I’m not going anywhere, not now,” Steve answers quickly. 

“Which is why we need Stark back on his feet.”

“Haha, you’re funny,” Tony snarls, leaning back and crossing his arms. “You know something I don’t know? Cuz if you do, by all means, do share. There’s nothing I haven’t tried.”

“That’s not entirely accurate,” Natasha says flatly, and Steve only sees a flash of something silver before Tony winces, grabbing his neck.

“Oh, God, what the hell, Romanoff? Are you gonna steal my kidney and sell it? Steve, can you please hit one of them. What did she just do to me?”

“More like what did we just do _for_ you,” Fury corrects. “That’s lithium dioxide. It’s gonna take the edge off. We’re trying to get you back to work.”

Steve watches as the lines on Tony’s neck fade. He sits up straighter, color returning to his cheeks.

“Shit, gimme a couple of boxes of that, I’ll be right as rain.”

“It’s not a cure,” Natasha informs him, “it just abates the symptoms.”

“Doesn’t look like it’s gonna be an easy fix.” Fury studies Tony with his one eye before turning to Steve.

“Nope,” Steve intones. “Still not going to New Mexico.”

***  
Tony’s mouth is on him as soon as they’re through the door at the Mansion. Well, actually he’d lunged in for a kiss as soon as Fury and Natasha had left, but Steve didn’t think they should be adding ‘very public sex’ to the list of things they’ve done to give Pepper and their poor publicist an aneurysm, so they’d dumped a wad of cash on the table and bee-lined for the parking garage. 

“God, I haven’t felt this _alive_ in like, forever,” Tony had moaned against his mouth as he’d pushed him against one of the garage’s support column. “Fuck, this is incredible. Shit, I want to suck you off right now.”

“Steady, tiger,” Steve had murmured, kicking himself for taking the side of reason. “Let’s get home first. Pretty sure there’re security cameras down here. Wouldn’t want to end up on the ten o’clock news, or YouTube.”

“It’d totally be worth it,” Tony had replied with a deliciously devilish grin, but he’d pulled back to let Steve step away from the column and adjusted himself before ducking into the car. 

He’d definitely exceeded the speed limit once or twice on the way home, and Steve hadn’t even objected.

Now they’re back home, fumbling their way up to the bedroom, shedding clothes as they go. 

Tony lets out an indistinct “Nnngggh” as Steve runs his hand down his spine to cup his ass, his fingers sliding down to settle just inside the cheeks. “Okay,” he grinds out, sucking the spot on Steve’s neck he’s been nuzzling. “Changed my mind. Not gonna suck you off-”

“I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

“-gonna fuck you, slow and hard. Take you apart and put you back together again.”

“Deal,” Steve grunts, lifting Tony, who squeaks in indignation as Steve lifts him off the ground and hoists him over his shoulder.

***

Tony wanders up from the workshop and flops down dramatically on the couch behind Steve. The lithium dioxide had given him the reprieve from the palladium poisoning that he’d needed to get back to work, not to mention the will to keep trying, and he’s been pushing himself hard again. It’s been at least sixteen hours since Steve has seen Tony out of the workshop.

“Hey you,” Steve says idly, running a hand over the front of Tony’s shin as he shuffles through the box.

“Hey yourself. Whatcha doing?” He picks up Steve’s glass of iced tea and takes a long sip.

Steve smiles and gets to his feet, film canister in hand. “Just looking at some old films,” he says as he threads the reel into the projector. “You might get a kick out of this one.”

It’s one of his old Captain America films. The plot is pretty hokey, and of course it ends with him punching out Adolf Hitler, but it makes Tony smile, so it’s totally worth it. 

“My heeeeero,” Tony drawls like a Southern belle as he curls his arms around Steve’s bicep. “You saved us from the evil Naaahhhzis.”

“You’d make a terrible damsel in distress.” Steve nudges him in the ribs. “Movie’s over. You pick the next one.”

“So much for my dashing hero. Just for that-” Tony picks up a notebook and a film canister and tosses it onto Steve’s lap, then points to the projector as if to say that Steve should set up the reel “I’m gonna make you sit through this one. Consider it a history lesson.” Tony settles back onto the couch and starts paging through the notebook.

 _Stark Expo, 1994_ , the canister reads. Steve starts the projector and takes up his seat next to Tony again just as Howard walks onscreen. “Everything is achievable through technology…”

Steve watches in enraptured silence as Howard details his plans for the city of the future. It’s a bold plan, to be sure. Steve can’t quite see how it would bring world peace, but better living is certainly a good start. Nowadays he can see why Stark’s plan wouldn’t have worked in the real world, and that’s probably why these planned cities never really caught on.

A small boy pops up in the background and Steve smiles as he recognizes little Tony, that defiant look already evident. The smile drops from his face quickly, though, when Howard turns and yells at the boy to leave. To Steve’s right, Tony lets out a huff of air, not looking up from the notebook he’s flipping through.

And now Steve really sees how much Howard changed over the years between when he had known him and when Tony had known him. He’s barely recognizable, slurring through his lines as he knocks back another drink. 

Steve gets up to turn off the film. He’s seen enough, and Tony doesn’t need to be reminded.

“Tony,” Howard in the film says, and both their heads snap up to the screen. “You’re too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you.”

Tony sets the notebook down and listens with intent focus as Howard speaks. 

“...you will change the world. What is and always will be my greatest creation is you.”

The film cuts off and they’re left sitting in silence. Steve blinks at the dark screen.

“Sonofabitch.” Tony scrambles to his feet and practically runs out of the room. Steve hears his footsteps on the stairs down to the workshop and beeping as Tony types in his security code.

He’s either running away from reality or he’s just had a _Eureka!_ moment. Steve really can’t tell right now. Maybe both. He makes his way quietly down to the workshop, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees Tony pick up the projection JARVIS has just rendered and start swiping through it.

“What does that look like to you, JARVIS? Not unlike an atom, in which case the nucleus would be here. Highlight the unisphere, lose the footpaths. Get rid of them.”

“What is it you’re trying to achieve, sir?”

“I’m discovering - correction - I’m rediscovering a new element, I believe.”

Steve watches in amazement from the doorway as Tony starts flicking away parts of the projection, moving others, rattling on to himself as he does so. The projection spins together to form a ball, Tony tugs it in close then throws his hands up in the air to expand it and there he is, sitting in the center of what is unmistakably an atom. There’s a look of wonder on his face as he turns on his stool, smiling to himself. He’s bathed in the blue light of the projection, his eyes dancing with excitement. It’s the most beautiful thing Steve has ever seen.

“Dad. Dead for years and still taking me to school.” He laughs as he smacks his hands together, shrinking the atom back down to the size of a golf ball. He holds it in the palm of his hand, studying it intently.

“The proposed element should serve as a viable replacement for palladium,” JARVIS informs him, and Steve feels all the anxiety of the past weeks wash away instantly.

“Thanks, Dad,” Tony says to himself.

“Unfortunately, it is impossible to synthesize,” JARVIS adds.

“Uh-huh.” Tony hops to his feet and turns to the bots. “Get ready for a major remodel, fellas. We’re back in hardware mode.”

Steve can’t help but smile.

***

It’s a good thing they’re moving anyway, Steve thinks as he swings the sledgehammer to break through the wall of the workshop in the Mansion. Tony’s talking to himself as he runs cables through the garage to power the particle accelerator he’s building in their basement, and Steve shakes his head in amusement. Some couples spend the weekends walking the dogs in the park and tasting wedding cakes and agonizing over which font to use on their invitations; he and Tony are building a particle accelerator to charge the element Tony has just synthesized (which he’s calling Starktonium, because that’s how he is. It’s better than his first suggestion, “badassium”, Steve reckons) during a break from hunting down an assassin and fighting for justice. And Steve wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s not exactly like he’s the normal one in this relationship - he did recently turn ninety, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the element Tony discovers (rediscovers) in IM2 isn't named in the movie, but in the accompanying comics it's stated that Tony tried to have it registered as "badassium", so I've decided to go with that rather than vibranium (because if Tony could synthesize vibranium, then Ultron would have known how to and wouldn't have had to go to Wakanda - not that Ultron appears in this story. But it made more sense to me this way. ::crosses arms petulantly:: whatever, I do what I want). 
> 
> The amazing orbingarrow has once again worked beta-reading wonders on this - many thanks!
> 
> I think there will probably be two, maybe three, more chapters to this.
> 
> ETA: I messed up the timeline a bit (okay, a lot) here. Whoops! Thanks, diligent readers, for alerting me! It has been edited to fix that.


	10. Chapter 10

“Hey, at least if this goes south, we’ve got a new place to live in,” Tony says casually, far too casually, as he starts to turn the wheel to activate the particle accelerator.

“If this goes south, you’re sleeping on the couch,” Steve says as he ducks out of the way of the ray of light cutting through everything in its path. He winces as he watches it cut through steel shelves like butter, feels his heart speed up when he sees the Barnett Newman painting hanging on the back wall, directly in the ray’s path.

Before it reaches the painting, though, the ray hits the frame holding the core that Tony had synthesized and Steve watches as the core starts to glow, becoming brighter and brighter until the entire room is lit up. 

Tony shuts off the particle accelerator and smiles smugly at the glowing triangle sitting in the middle of the room. “That was easy.”

Steve glances around at the destroyed workshop and rolls his eyes at Tony, who rolls his eyes back at him.

“Enough with the disapproving face. Time to take this sucker for a test drive,” he says, grabbing pincers to lift the core out of the frame and place it in the new modified arc reactor.

“Tony, wait-” Steve starts.

“Sir, the tests-” JARVIS objects.

But Tony has already plugged the new arc reactor into his chest.

Steve watches as the light from the reactor grows brighter and brighter. Tony is grimacing as if in terrible pain, his knuckles white where his fingers are wrapped around the countertop. He lets out an agonized groan and Steve longs to lunge forward, to pull away that source of pain for Tony, except he knows that doing so would only make it worse. He finds himself strangely reminded of the Vita-Ray saturation when he got the serum. That pain had been fleeting too, and definitely worth it in the end.

Tony’s groan morphs to a whoop of triumph as beads of sweat drip down his temple. “Aw yeah!” he shouts out as the light begins to fade to its normal brightness. 

He’s still clutching the countertop, looking utterly exhausted now, and Steve crosses the space between them quickly to wrap an arm around Tony’s waist and steady him.

A wide grin spreads over Tony’s face.

Steve feels himself grinning as well. “You did it,” he says softly, his voice full of wonder, as he watches the lines around the reactor, those horrible black lines that had been the mark of so much worry in the past months, start to fade.

Tony’s grin softens to a fond smile. “Yeah. We did it.”

The kiss Steve presses against Tony’s lips is soft and chaste, meant to express the immense relief he feels that Tony is no longer being poisoned by the thing that was supposed to be keeping him alive. He feels Tony smiling against his lips and wraps a hand around the back of Tony’s head, pulling them both closer together. The kiss deepens, as if they’re rediscovering each other after a long time apart. A hand snakes around his waist, pulling them closer together, and Steve feels the tension he’s been carrying with him while Tony was sick start to seep away, replaced by the warmth of having Tony close.

It’s Steve who pulls back just enough to end the kiss. They’re both out of breath, and Tony’s eyelids are drooping. They could both use a good night’s sleep.

Steve smiles down at Tony as he runs a hand through his soft brown hair. “You taste like coconut and metal.”

Tony grins back at him. “Great, I’ll order some pineapple juice. I know how much you love pina coladas.”

Steve gives his shoulder a playful shove in return. “I hate getting caught in the rain, though. Come on,” he says, grabbing Tony’s hand to haul him towards their bedroom, “time for bed.”

“Yes sir, Captain!” Tony hops to his feet, following eagerly.

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Yeah,” Tony responds coyly, “but I bet you can be persuaded.”

***

Steve can’t help but smile as he slips the thin band onto Tony’s finger. It’s made of the same titanium-gold alloy as Tony’s suits, with a tiny single star made of vibranium inset in the center - they hadn’t dared shave any more off Steve’s shield in case it affected the way it handled. Steve could feel the extra weight around his neck, where a matching ring now hangs on the chain with his dogtags. He runs his thumb over the band, taking Tony’s hands into his. 

They’re standing in the tiny room in Boston’s City Hall that’s designated for weddings. It’s just the two of them, Pepper and Rhodey, on special leave from his deployment, and the clerk performing the ceremony.

But Steve is barely aware of their presence right now. All his focus is on Tony, standing in front of him, looking irresistibly handsome in his finely tailored charcoal grey suit. Six weeks have passed since Tony created the new element to replace the palladium, six weeks in which they’ve moved into their new penthouse apartment in Stark Tower, in which they’ve finished planning for today, their wedding day. And most importantly, six weeks in which Tony has finally gotten healthy again. The lines are all gone, as are the dark rings around his eyes, and his complexion has returned to his regular coloring. The suit seems to enhance all that, the grey highlighting the flecks of gold in his eyes. He seems to be glowing with joy as he looks up at Steve.

“Anthony Edward Stark - Tony,” Steve starts, clearing his throat once to keep his emotions in check. “I thought my life was over when that plane crashed into the ice. Then I woke up and I wasn’t dead, though it still felt like I wasn’t really alive. But you sauntered into my world and all of a sudden it all made sense again. You brought me back to life. I wouldn’t be half the man I am today without you. You make me complete, and I want to spend the rest of my days with you.”

Tony smiles softly, eyes full of fondness, and gives Steve’s hands a squeeze before replying.

“Steven Grant Rogers - Steve. You say I brought you back to life, but you have saved my life, literally and figuratively, more times than possibly even JARVIS can count. I wouldn’t be here today if not for you. You believed in me when no one else did, especially not me. You push me to keep going when I think can’t, you bring me back down when I get too ‘out there’.” He gestured toward the sky. “You keep me grounded, and I don’t just mean when you hide my repulsor boots. Steve, I’m not half as good at anything as I am when I’m doing it next to you. And I want the rest of my days to be spent next to you.”

There was a muffled sniffle behind them, and Steve catches a glimpse of Pepper wiping her eye. He has to blink a few times to clear his own eyes.

“Well, then I am happy to say that you are now married,” the clerk declared. “All the best to both of you.”

Steve grins broadly as he wraps Tony in a tight embrace, lifting him off his feet as he presses a kiss on his lips.

“I love you, knucklehead.”

“Love you, stubbornbutt. Now put me down so we can console poor weepy Rhodey over there.”

Steve looks over to where Rhodey and Pepper are standing, arms looped around each other and both looking rather teary-eyed, though Rhodey tries to hide it when Tony gives him a playful punch in the shoulder. Tony grins and wraps Rhodey up in a tight embrace.

“Congrats, man,” Rhodey mumbles into Tony’s shoulder.

“Thanks buddy,” Tony mumbles back.

Steve glances away from them and catches Pepper’s eye.

“Well, two of New York’s most eligible bachelors, officially off the market,” she says with a smile.

Steve smiles back, shrugging slightly as he replies “I was never really on the market to begin with.” He looks back fondly to Tony, who’s bantering with Rhodey.

Tony spots him looking and stops to return the gaze. “Come on guys,” he says, waving towards the door, “we’ve got a party to get to. I hear there’s an open bar.”

There’s a huge crowd waiting for them outside City Hall - fans, paparazzi and the press as well as a few protesters, but also friends. Some familiar faces from their college days are in the crowd, as are Natasha and Sam. Tony is clutching Steve’s hand tightly, so Steve can actually feel him morph into his public persona, pasting on his press grin as he waves to the crowd while they make their way down the steps.

“We love you, TOaST!” a group of girls shouts at them.

Steve ducks his head slightly to hide his slight embarrassment at the nickname as he waves back, and that’s when he spots him, standing a bit behind the crowd, next to the statue of Samuel Adams. He’s wearing a dark hoodie, but the hood is pulled back, his long hair blowing loosely in the wind. Dark sunglasses hide his eyes, but Steve is certain it’s him.

“What is it, babe?” Tony asks when he notices that Steve has let go of his hand.

Steve nods in the direction and Tony follows his gaze until he spots him as well.

“Go,” Tony says, nudging Steve lightly with his shoulder. “Tell him to come to the party!” he calls after Steve, who’s already weaving through the crowd.

He stops a few feet away, unsure whether he should come any closer.

“Bucky,” he says carefully. “You’re here.”

“It’s your wedding, punk. Wouldn’t miss it for the…”

He’s interrupted by the sound of electricity sparking.

“...world,” Bucky finishes, his voice trailing off as they turn to watch half a police car flying into the crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohmigosh, you guys, I am *so* sorry it's been so long since the last update. I had an acute attack of Real Life and Personal Stuff as well as the much-dreaded I Want To Write But The Words Won't Come and all I could manage was other projects. Also sorry this is a short chapter, though it's a pretty important one, obviously. It all comes to a head soon. The next bit is all laid out and rough-drafted, but I didn't want to make you wait any longer. If I don't post the next chapter in the next ten days, please feel free to come on [my tumblr]() and yell at me. Srsly, sometimes I need a butt-kicking.


	11. Chapter 11

Steve feels the ground shake slightly, the hairs at the back of his head standing on edge from the static charge in the air as a figure appears from between the buildings. It’s a man with long wild hair and heavy boots. He’s shirtless, his torso hidden behind what looks like some sort of harness. Wiring criss-crosses his arms, back and chest, and in the center sits a bright light that looks terrifyingly similar to Tony’s arc reactor. His arms are spread wide, holding in each hand what appears to be a long whip sparking with electricity.

Steve watches, momentarily dazed, as the man raises one of the whips and snaps it, the whip slicing through a traffic light pole as if it were made of straw.

The traffic light teeter-totters for a moment before falling into the dispersing crowd, and that’s when the group springs into action.

Natasha’s the first to act, calling Steve’s name before tossing him his shield. He doesn’t bother to wonder where she had it or why, or how she’s already in her SHIELD uniform - he’s learned not to ask with her. The black duffel bag she’d been holding makes more sense now, though. Instead he catches the shield and nods his thanks as he takes in the situation, already formulating a strategy in his head.

“Shit,” he hears Tony say somewhere behind him, “it’s like the balrog from Lord of the Rings. Fly, you fools.”

“On it,” Sam says as he catches his wing pack from Natasha and pulls it on. Natasha flicks open the latches on the suitcase Iron Man suit for Tony to step into.

“Where did you have all that-” Rhodey starts, but cuts off mid-sentence. “You know what, never mind. I don’t care right now. Too bad my suit’s back at base.”

Natasha quirks a coy smile as she tosses him one of her guns. “As if that’d be enough to stop you.”

“Rhodey, Natasha, we gotta get these people to safety, set up a perimeter,” Steve says, his voice firm. “Sam, try to keep the skies clear. Iron Man, see what you can do about this guy. And everyone, watch out for those... whip things.”

“You got it, Cap,” Rhodey acknowledges with a nod.

The fallen traffic light had trapped three civilians, one now with what looks like a broken leg. Steve lifts the post as Rhodey pulls the man out from under it, tugging him over to a safer spot near the brick wall before heading back to help the others.

Steve catches a glimpse of Tony and Sam swooping through the air, doing their best to keep debris the whips are sending flying from hitting the crowd. The attacker sees Tony dart past and raises his whip; Steve feels his breath catch as he watches the whip slice through the air just behind Tony, wrapping around a tree and unrooting it. Tony spins mid-air around to catch the falling tree and the attacker snaps his whip again. As it snaps toward him, Tony brings his arm up to shield his head and the whip wraps around his wrist. When the attacker gives a sharp tug of the whip, the entire suit lurches forward, landing with a thud. Steve hears Tony groaning from the sparking power surging through the suit.

“Get off,” Tony growls, raising his free hand to aim a repulsor at the attacker. 

The attacker gives the whip another tug just as Tony’s firing, though, and the repulsor blast goes wide, hitting one of the brick walls that the civilians have scrambled behind.

“Okay, not doing that again,” Tony says with a grimace.

The attacker lets out an eerie chuckle, baring crooked teeth as he does. “You learn quick.” He has a heavy accent, probably Russian. He gives the whip another tug, pulling Tony towards him. “Not quick enough.”

The other whip is whizzing through the air, but Tony instead leaps forward, launching himself at the attacker.

“Wouldn’t bet on that,” Tony wheezes as he punches the attacker in the face with a gauntleted fist.

The whip comes down as the attacker staggers, wrapping around the statue of Samuel Adams that stands in the center of the square. The attacker gives the whip a sharp tug to pull it back, but it’s caught around the statue’s ankle. There’s the sound of metal on stone as the statue slides off its pedestal, dragged down by the whip, and then crashes to the ground.

“Oh no you don’t,” Steve says, flinging his shield so that its sharp edge slices through the cord of the whip. The severed end falls to the ground, sparking once before going dark. 

“Really, babe?” Tony calls as he struggles against the hold the other whip has on him. “That’s what gets you all worked up? A knocked-over statue?”

“He was a Founding Father!” Steve grinds out as he ducks out of the way of the severed whip that’s now free again.

“And he makes really good beer!” Sam adds as he flies past.

Tony twists to catch the second, shorter whip around his other arm. He wraps himself up in the sparking lines, taking both whips out of play, but it’s clear the suit won’t be able to handle the surges of energy for much longer.

Steve catches Bucky’s eye, who nods quickly before they both spring into action. Bucky gets the guy in a headlock from behind, squeezing his neck tightly with his metal arm so that the guy staggers back a few steps in an attempt to shake him. Meanwhile, Steve leaps at him from the front. He manages to get his fingers around the device in the center of his chest that looks suspiciously like an arc reactor, carefully avoiding the sparking whips. The device works the same as an arc reactor too - unfortunately for this guy, Steve knows exactly how to turn it to dislodge it.

As soon as he’s torn the device out of the casing it was sitting in, the whips fall limply to the ground.

Tony groans as he unwraps himself, peeling back the faceplate of his suit.

“Well, not quite the electrifying party I’d been planning for our wedding…” he pants.

Bucky squeezes the attacker tighter until the man slumps into unconsciousness; Natasha and Rhodey keep their guns trained on him just in case until Boston PD steps in to take him into custody. The square is full of people now - those who had been there before the attack, more curious onlookers and a horde of reporters. The team manages to stay well enough inside the perimeter the police have secured to be shielded from the reporters’ questions as they regroup after the fight. Bucky’s there too, but he’s hanging back from the main group as if unsure whether he should be there. There’s a slightly wild look in his eyes, which Steve can understand. This is not how any of them had expected the day to go.

Natasha excuses herself to take a call from Fury as the rest assess their situation. Rhodey agrees to handle the investigation with the police into who the attacker is and what his motive was. Tony’s suit is pretty beat up, which is to be expected, considering the amount of energy it must have absorbed from those whips. It’s a struggle to get out of, and of course Tony’s anxious fidgeting isn’t helping.

“Will you stand still?!” Pepper practically growls as they try to remove one of the damaged boots.

“Ow!” Tony winces when she tugs a little too fiercely. 

They finally manage to get Tony out of his suit and Steve takes in his thoroughly battered wedding suit - there’s a long gash down one pant leg where the boot had snagged and smeared blood on the collar of his shirt. Then he looks down at his own suit. Well, it’s seen better days too. He must have torn the seam in the shoulders during the fight, so his shirt is barely being held together by a few inches of fabric. There’s a singed gash in his pant leg and he somehow managed to lose a shoe.

Tony smiles warmly when he catches Steve looking. “We might have to get cleaned up before the party.”

“Party’s still on?” Pepper asks, somewhat surprised.

“Hell yeah,” Tony replies. “Not gonna let some crazy psychopath ruin our day. Right honeybun?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “Yes, snookums. But first a shower might be nice. And maybe some new clothes.”

“I’ll see what I can drum up,” Pepper says, her tone resigned.

“You’re a peach, Pepper-pot,” Tony coos as he places a kiss on her cheek.

“Tony,” Steve prompts, touching Tony lightly on the forearm as he indicates with his eyes towards where Bucky is standing. 

“Better make it three, Pep,” Tony adds, nodding to Steve in acknowledgement. 

“Hey, Barnesy, thanks for the, uh, assist,” Tony starts, making a movement with his arm to mimic a chokehold.

The corner of Bucky’s mouth quirks slightly and he shifts, looking somewhat more at ease. “Glad I could help,” he replies with an even tone.

Steve finds himself fumbling for words, still unsure how to handle the situation, but luckily Tony is there to take over.

“So, you may have noticed it’s kind of a big day for us and we’ve got a pretty big thing planned for later-”

“It’s fine, I was just about to head out-” Bucky starts, but Tony continues undeterred.

“-but it’d be great if you joined us.” 

Bucky’s eyes widen momentarily at the invitation, but the reaction disappears again quickly, replaced by a carefully trained blank slate. Steve has seen that face before - Natasha used to use it, back before they knew each other as well as they do now.

“Pepper, my, uh, guardian angel and platonic love of my life, is gonna drum up some clothes for us that aren’t, you know, ruined.” He gestures down at their torn suits, then looks up again and catches Bucky’s gaze. “She’ll get some for you too.” He holds Bucky’s gaze for a moment, his shoulders held square and his entire body conveying a message of ‘you know you want to.’ It’s a subtle movement, but highly effective. Steve has seen Tony use it many times over the years - with business partners and employees, but even when he was trying to convince Steve or Rhodey to go along with one of his more harebrained ideas. It’s almost embarrassing how often Steve has found himself giving in it.

Bucky seems to contemplate the offer, turning to Steve to see if he is in agreement. Steve offers him a warm smile and a nod.

“Alright. Never could say no to dancing.”

Steve lets out a laugh. “It’s changed a little since our day.”

“I bet…”

“Awesome. And since we haven’t officially done the introductions bit yet, I’m Tony, by the way. Tony Stark.” He holds out his hand towards Bucky, who accepts the handshake, if slightly hesitantly.

“James Barnes. Bucky,” he adds quickly.

Steve catches Tony eyeing Bucky’s metal arm - he’s probably itching to get a closer look at it. “Tony…” he warns, his voice low, before turning to Bucky. “I should warn you about this one,” he says with a smile, wrapping an arm around Tony’s shoulder. “He has this problem when he sees new tech where he fixates on it like a dog chasing a squirrel.”

“I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for him,” Bucky drawls with an amused huff.

Tony prods Steve indignantly. “Come on, you geezers. We’ve got a party to get to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed I have now set how many chapters this will have - the next one will be the last, followed by an epilogue. 
> 
> Feed my ego with kudos and comments! Please and thank you!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well there we have it folks, the final chapter. There will be a short epilogue, which I'll post in the next few days. Thanks for following along, thanks for sticking with me when I failed at updating (sorry! stupid life getting in the way!), thanks for leaving kudos and comments to encourage me! And thanks OrbingArrow for betareading, as always! (Disclaimer: I added and changed some stuff after it was beta read, so any mistakes are my fault because I'm a jerk like that)
> 
> Also, I tried to write smut and it came out ridiculously fluffy instead. Oops. sorrynotsorry.
> 
> Now, without further ado: enjoy!

Pepper is magical. The media might be throwing around terms like “superhero” to describe Steve and Tony, but the real hero is actually Pepper. How she managed to get three suits that fit each of them within an hour, Steve will probably never comprehend. Especially for Bucky, whom she had seen in person for the first time today.

Okay, so maybe the sleeve on the left arm is a little snug, Steve thinks as he looks over to Bucky frowning at his reflection in the mirror of the bathroom of the hotel’s honeymoon suite. Off-the-rack suit sizes aren’t exactly designed for metal arms, after all.

They’d headed to the hotel to get cleaned up before the reception. It had been a bit awkward at first, coming into the honeymoon suite with his new husband and also his not-dead, not-trying-to-kill-us-anymore best friend. But if anyone knows how to break awkward silences, it’s Tony and Bucky.

“How adorably cliché,” Bucky said when he saw the rose petals spread out across the massive bed.

“I asked for little tiny American flags, but Spangles over here insisted that would be against the Flag Code,” Tony replied, flopping down onto the bed dramatically.

“It would be,” Steve said, pulling off his shoes before joining Tony. He rolled over to prop himself on one elbow, his free hand settling on Tony’s stomach.

“I gotta say, babe, all those times I imagined our wedding night, I didn’t picture any third-party spectators.”

“I’ll just-” Bucky started, gesturing towards the door.

“No,” Steve said authoritatively. “We’re just here to get cleaned up now. Wedding night activities after the party,” he added, poking Tony in the ribs as he said it.

“Fine,” Tony conceded with a huff. “Then I’m taking the first shower.”

“Good, you stink.” Steve swatted at Tony’s butt as he got up to shower, just for good measure. He didn’t realize he was still looking towards the bathroom door Tony had just disappeared behind until Bucky spoke again.

“Seems like quite the handful you got yourself there, buddy.” 

Someone who didn’t know Bucky as well as Steve does might take that as an insult, but Steve smiled at the statement of approval. Bucky had said almost the same thing about Peggy, all those years earlier.

“Never a boring day,” Steve replied with a smile.

Tony came out of the shower shortly afterwards and it was Bucky’s turn. Tony seized the moment alone - their first since before heading to the courthouse - to sidle up to Steve and wrap an arm around his waist. He rested his chin on Steve’s collarbone and looked up at Steve.

God, Steve thought as he gazed down at brown eyes fixed on him, he is so gone for this man.

“You happy?” Tony asked.

Steve smiled and pressed his lips to Tony’s forehead. “So happy.”

“Good.” Tony nodded, a nervous gesture Steve has seen him do from time to time when he’s thinking about something. “What a day, huh?”

“Indeed.”

“Kind of not surprising, though, huh? That something like that would happen on our wedding day…”

Steve let out a huff. “No,” he replied with a laugh, “kind of not surprising.”

“And then Bucky shows up,” Tony continued, his gaze drifting down to Steve’s neck. “I bet you’re over the moon about that.”

“I’m over the moon about getting to marry you. I’m really happy that Bucky is back.”

Tony smiled and glanced up at Steve. “Good. I’m happy you’re happy. You know, there’s still a few empty apartments at the Tower,” he suggested, more quietly now. “If you want to, we could invite him.”

Steve ran a hand through Tony’s wet hair. He felt like his heart might explode with joy. He’d known this would be the greatest day of his life when he’d woken up that morning, but he certainly hadn’t expected it to be _this_ great. “We can suggest it, see what he thinks.”

There was the sound of a doorknob turning and Bucky emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of mist.

“I swear, Buck, if you used up all the hot water…”

“Fancy hotel like this, they oughta have more’n one boiler,” Bucky shot back, rubbing his hair with a hand towel.

Tony’s eyes darted between Steve and Bucky as they bantered. “God, I’m surrounded by snarky old men.” He let himself fall on the bed again, then lifted his head just enough to look at Bucky. “I gotta ask, Frosty Flakes, how come you’re back? I mean, when we first saw you, you were all like ‘I’m a big angry killing machine’, but you seem pretty evened out now. Fighting on the side of good and all that. Which, by the way, thanks.”

Steve felt a stab of worry run through him, concern that Tony’s uncouth ways might set something off in Bucky. They have no idea what he’s been through, after all, and while he does seem to be “with them” now, Steve really wouldn’t want to set something off to make the blank-faced fighting machine they’d encountered in Bratislava come out again.

It’s clear that worry was unfounded, though, when Bucky replied. “The conditioning,” he said, his voice now devoid of intonation. “It would wear off over time. When they stopped being able to reinforce it, after there was no Hydra to go back to, I guess I…” he shrugged before continuing, as if struggling to find the right words “...shook it off.”

He shifted his weight to his other foot, ran his metal hand through his hair to comb it out. “It was like waking up from a dream, but one of those weird ones that feels really real.”

Steve frowned at the memory. It sounded eerily like how it had been for him when he’d woken from the ice.

There was a click and they all jumped, startled by the sudden noise. The door opened and Pepper and Rhodey stepped into the room, already changed into formalwear for the reception party. And with that, the tension dissipated.

“Whoa, there’s a whole lot of mostly undressed man bodies on display in here.”

“Oh please, Sourpatch, you’re in the Air Force, you’ve seen worse,” Tony shot back.

“It’s not my own sensitivities I’m concerned about. Pep, babe, cover your eyes, please.”

“Don’t project your sensitivities onto me, Jim,” Pepper said with a roll of her eyes. “Nothing I haven’t seen before. Well, except Mr. Barnes. Welcome to the club. Here, I brought you clothes.” She gestured to Rhodey, whose arms were full with three suit bags. She picked off the top bag and handed it to Tony, the next to Steve and the third to Bucky. “I hope this fits.”

Bucky accepted it with a grateful nod, but if he was about to say anything, it was interrupted by laughter from Tony.

“Pepper Potts, I’ve long known you were a gift to mankind, and more importantly to me, but this-” he held up the Captain America socks tucked into his suit bag “-this proves it beyond a doubt.”

“To be fair,” she said as she adjusted her earrings, “those were Jim’s idea.”

Steve checked his bag to find a pair of Iron Man socks, as expected. He looked up to see Bucky holding a pair of black socks with dancing snowmen on them. 

Rhodey just shrugged.

Steve left the others to get dressed while he took a shower. When he comes back out, already dressed in the suit Pepper had given him, they’re all ready to go. Bucky is looking at his reflection pensively, carefully flexing his metal arm under the tight fabric, while Tony and Rhodey are huddled around a StarkPad on the couch.

“So his dad worked with my dad, and now he’s decided to take out his entitlement issues on me?”

“Looks like it,” Rhodey replies, his face grim. “I’ve got a few buddies at Boston PD, I can see what else I can find out.”

“Thanks buddy,” Tony says, patting Rhodey’s arm with the back of his hand. That’s when he looks up and spots Steve. His expression goes from serious to lustful instantaneously. “Hey there, gorgeous.”

“Flirt later,” Pepper reprimands, “we’ve got a party to get to.” She takes the StarkPad from Tony and drops it in her bag before she proceeds to herd the four of them out of the room.

“Yes ma’am!” Bucky says with a mock salute and a smile as he follows Rhodey out. “Come on, Steve, I wanna see your twenty-first century dance moves!”

Steve lets his head slump to his chest with a sigh. “Never going to live that down,” he mutters to himself.

***

Three hours later, the party is in full swing. Steve had been too swept up in the excitement of the day to eat much at dinner, but somehow once the cake-cutting rolled around, his appetite recovered sufficiently. He’s still picking bits of cake off the lapels of his suit - of course Tony couldn’t resist the urge to smoosh it in Steve’s face, so naturally Steve had returned the favor - when he steps outside onto the balcony to catch some fresh air. It’s a gorgeous evening, with the sun setting over the Charles, speckling the choppy water with gold and orange light. Steve smiles when he spots Bucky leaning against the railing, a glass in hand, looking out over the water. He steps up beside his friend, shoves his hands in his pockets, and together they watch the glittering water.

“So you knew me?” he finally asks, hesitantly. “I mean, today, when you came to City Hall? Cuz you didn’t seem to recognize me last time we saw you in Bratislava.”

Bucky nods, a coy smile spreading across his face. “That was the last time _you_ saw _me_ , but not the last time _I_ saw _you_.”

Steve shoots him a questioning look, and there’s no missing the eye roll when Bucky continues. “I’ve been in New York for almost a month. Came over once I figured it all out. You’re a pretty easy guy to find these days, ya know. Even before you moved into a huge tower with your name on the side of it in giant lights for the whole world to see.”

“Ya know,” Steve says with a laugh, “it’s not _my_ name up there.”

Bucky shifts his stance, nudging Steve with his shoulder. “Oh, not taking his name? No Steven Stark?”

“No Steven Stark,” Steve replies, returning the nudge. “Hey, I’m glad you’re here, Buck.”

“Me too, Steve. Come on, your fella said there was an open bar.”

“There is,” Steve replies with a quiet chuckle, remembering Tony’s words as they left City Hall. The two of them together is definitely going to mean trouble for Steve.

They’re headed back inside when Natasha intercepts them. She looks stunning in her black dress, and Steve is pretty sure he catches Bucky looking at her appreciatively.

Well, it’s nice to know some things never change. Plus he’s pretty sure Natasha could and would take Bucky down if the attention were unwanted.

“Hey Cap, sorry, but I’ve gotta cut out early.” There’s an apologetic, slightly concerned look on her face.

“Everything alright?” Steve asks, calculating in the back of his mind how long he would need to get to his gear and if Tony is probably still sober enough at this point in the evening to suit up.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” she shoots back too quickly to be convincing. “There’s just a bit of a situation in Harlem Fury needs me to go monitor. Some strange developments out in New Mexico too, but Clint’s got it under control, I’m sure. You go enjoy your party. You deserve it. Just, uh, keep an eye on Stark.”

She nods over to the dance floor, where Tony and Rhodey seem to be attempting to re-enact Ross and Monica’s dance from Friends.

Bucky lets out a snort of laughter and pats Steve on the chest with a waggle of his eyebrows. “Looks like you got yourself a real catch, Steve.”

“He grows on you,” Natasha says with a smile. “See you boys around.” With that, she disappears through the crowd.

“I’d better go check on the young’uns,” Steve says, a fake tone of annoyance in his voice. It’s all show, though, because as soon as he gets out onto the dance floor, he allows himself to be wrapped up in Tony’s movements, joining in their improvised dance show. Everyone is probably watching them, and they probably look ridiculous, but Steve doesn’t care one bit.

***

It’s late by the time the party starts to wind down, and considering the turbulent events of the day, Steve and Tony are both _tired_. Tony wouldn’t admit it directly, of course, but Steve can tell from the way he’s quieter than usual, his head buried happily in the crook of Steve’s arm during the ride back to the hotel. He’s got an arm slung tightly around Steve’s waist as they head into the elevator up to their suite, almost as if he’s secretly using Steve to hold him up. Steve leans down and presses a kiss into Tony’s hair, which is sticking up into his nostrils somewhat awkwardly, and Tony lifts his head to meet Steve’s lips. It’s a slow, savoring kiss. They break apart when the elevator doors slide open at their floor but crash back together as soon as they’ve stepped out, stumbling somewhat uncarefully towards the door to their suite but both unwilling to part. Tony pushes Steve up against the wall next to the door as he fumbles with the key card and it takes far too long for him to finally get the door open, but it’s okay because he’s also nuzzling at that spot behind Steve’s ear in the way that makes Steve’s knees go soft. If Tony ever went super-villain or they were to end up on opposite sides of a battle, Steve would be in serious trouble because Tony definitely knows his weak spot.

He’s using his powers for good for now, though, for really, _really_ good, as his tongue flits out and over Steve’s earlobe. It’s all Steve can do to stay on his feet, especially when Tony whispers in his ear, his voice low and breathy, “I love you, husband of mine.”

Steve loses it there. He wraps his arms around Tony’s waist with a growl and lifts, carrying a half-heartedly protesting Tony over his shoulder to the bed. The rose petals spread out over the bedspread bounce as they flop on top of them and Tony laughs when one falls on his eye. He grabs a handful of petals and stuffs them in Steve’s shirt with a rather maniacal giggle.

Offense is the best defense, Steve decides, so he swiftly removes first his own shirt and then Tony’s. Tony of course takes this as an invitation to stuff flower petals in Steve’s pants, so Steve takes those off too.

“Mission accomplished,” Tony declares with a grin and a wink.

Steve can’t help but think back to their first few times together, only a mile or so from their location now but so, so far from where they are today. Not that it hadn’t been great, the excitement of getting to know each other, of exploring each other. Of learning to understand the other, and also of learning each other’s secrets, what haunted them, and what drove them on. Those days are long gone, but they’ve ceded to something even better - now they know each other inside and out, it seems - they know exactly what the other likes, what they don’t like as much, what they _really_ like. Like when Steve licks up around that one spot on Tony’s - yep, that’s the one, he thinks as Tony lets out an obscene moan coupled with a shudder. The trust in Tony’s eyes as Steve slowly works him open, pushes into him - Steve wouldn’t trade that for the world.

They take their time, enjoying this night for what it is - the beginning of their married life. It probably won’t be all that different from before, though, Steve figures. They’ll still bicker, they’ll still get in arguments from time to time and worry far too much when the other takes a hit in battle, he’ll still have to drag Tony out of the workshop after marathon science sessions and Tony will still have to lock him out of the gym when he goes through too many heavy bags. They’ll still spend lazy afternoons sprawled out on the couch surrounded by empty pizza boxes (probably more of these, considering how they seem to keep acquiring roommates…). It’s going to be great, and Steve can’t wait.

It’s the thought of all those years to come that sends him over the edge just after Tony, and they collapse together in a heap on the bed. Soon Tony’s squirming under Steve’s tight embrace, but he isn’t complaining yet, so Steve is going to keep holding on.

***

“A bit of a situation in Harlem” was a bit of an understatement, turns out. Large swaths of the neighborhood have been destroyed, and according to the media reports, two giants were responsible for the damage.

“Uh, is this something we need to get on, JARVIS?” Tony asks as he scrolls through the news reports. It’s two days after Steve and Tony’s wedding, and they’re back in New York having breakfast in the shared living space in the floor below the penthouse. Steve is flipping pancakes while Bucky is on bacon-frying duty (Steve learned long ago not to entrust Tony with this task as most of the bacon tended to disappear somewhere between the pan and the plate). Bucky agreed to come back with them and move into one of the empty apartments. He’d been reluctant at first, but Tony had pointed out that the others had apartments as well and besides, did Bucky have any idea what rent was like in Brooklyn these days? So there they are, the three of them plus Pepper and Rhodey, gathered around the kitchen island.

“According to the information I have been able to access, the military are on site to handle the situation.” The AI does not sound enthused.

Tony looks over and catches Steve’s gaze. They’re clearly thinking the same thing.

“So, is this something we need to get on?” Tony repeats.

“Before you do anything rash - I have Director Fury of SHIELD for you.”

Tony frowns. “Alright, patch him through.”

“Actually, he is in the lobby.”

Tony lets out a sigh and rolls his eyes. “Fine, let him up.”

The elevator doors slide open with a ding just a few moments later and out strides Director Fury, his hands tucked casually into the pockets of his leather overcoat. Steve can’t help but wonder if he ever takes that jacket off.

“Good morning, Director Fury,” Pepper greets him warmly.

“To what do we owe the pleasure, Cyclops?” Tony asks somewhat less warmly.

“I see you’ve already heard about the situation in Harlem,” Fury starts, nodding towards the screen on the wall.

“A situation?” Rhodey huffs. “Is that the SHIELD version ‘an unfortunate accident during a training exercise’? Like how they’re painting Vanko as just a crazed copycat fan?”

Fury shoots him a glare but continues. “The semantics of what we’re calling it are the least of my concerns right now. I’m up to my eyeball in work right now-” Tony and Bucky both snort into their coffee, but Fury continues undeterred “-between this and what’s going on out in New Mexico, and I could really use your help.”

“You can’t afford me,” Tony scoffs. 

“Actually, I’m really here for Captain Rogers.” 

“We’re kind of a package deal,” Tony says, flipping Fury off with his ring finger. “Stark-Rogers.”

“Tony,” Steve says quietly so only Tony can hear him, brushing a hand over Tony’s shoulder to calm him. “It might actually be a good idea. I trust SHIELD just as little as you do-”

Tony fake-coughs in a way that sounds suspiciously like “Zola computer”.

“-but maybe it’s better to be on the inside than the outside.” 

Tony glares up and frowns at Steve, then lets out a sigh. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” he concedes. To Fury he adds “Fine, we’re in. But only on a consulting basis, every other Thursday.”

Fury tosses a file folder onto the counter in front of them. “Welcome to the Avengers Initiative, gentlemen.”


	13. Epilogue

“Tony, I’ve been Steve Rogers for over ninety years. I’m not changing it now.” Steve rolls over on the lounge chair to a sitting position and then gets up to join Tony at the bar. It’s the third day of their honeymoon. They’ve settled into the new home in Stark Tower, as have Bucky, Sam and Pepper, and Rhodey when he’s not deployed, but Steve and Tony are far from home now. The sun is bright, a light breeze is blowing salty air off the sea as the waves lap at the beach of their island getaway. Life is good.

“Well I just plastered my name all over the side of our tower in bright shiny lights. Do you have any idea how expensive that would be to change?” Tony pours more of the pre-mixed daiquiris into two glasses, then plops a strawberry on top of each. He takes a sip of his and holds out the second glass to Steve.

“Probably less than you earn in two days,” Steve says with a smile, accepting the glass but setting it down on the bar so he can pull Tony close with a hand at the small of his back. “But you don’t have to change it. We could just both keep our names. I hear it's all the rage these days.”

“Alright, but I’m totally gonna call you Mr. Stark in the bedroom,” Tony says, then he winces. “Actually, scratch that, that just makes me think of Dad. Awkward.”

“How do you think I feel,” Steve replies with a laugh. “You can call me whatever you want, babe,” he adds as he lets his fingers trail down Tony’s chest. “Especially in the bedroom.”

“Aye aye, Captain.”

Tony yelps in indignation when Steve pinches him just under the ribs.

“Not that. At least not in the bedroom.”

“We’re not in a bedr-”

“Excuse me, gentlemen,” JARVIS’ voice coming through Tony’s phone interrupts. “There is a helicopter incoming.”

Tony is already pulling away. “Do we need to suit up?”

“You should probably consider a suit you weren’t born in,” JARVIS replies coolly. “The passenger is Agent Coulson.”

Tony rolls his eyes dramatically as they both head to the helicopter landing site. Steve pulls on a shirt and grabs his shield on the way just in case; Tony seems to be happy meeting Agent Coulson wearing only bathing shorts.

“We are on our _honeymoon_ , Coulson,” he greets the agent indignantly. “First vacation we’ve had in, well, ever, really.” He gestures for Coulson to follow them back into the house.

“Unless you count that stop in Lucerne…” Steve offers as he pushes open the door.

Tony dismisses the comment with a wave of his hand. “Doesn’t count. I was dying.”

Coulson raises a hand to cut off their banter. His voice is all business when he speaks. “Gentlemen, as much as I’m enjoying watching this exchange, we have a situation, and I need both of you. I need your scientific opinion and your expertise with this device.” He points to Tony and then Steve respectively, then slides a tablet towards them. “Here.”

“It’s not even Thursday,” Tony mumbles as he beams the information onto a screen on the wall. 

Steve feels his heart sink, his jaw clench.

“What was SHIELD doing with the Tesseract?”

“Trying to gain a better understanding of it.”

“You shoulda left it at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Yeah, that’s on Dad. He fished it out,” Tony says as he scrolls through the information. “Who’s this guy?”

“That’s Dr. Bruce Banner. He was involved in the incident in Harlem. Agent Romanoff just brought him on board.”

“Banner? I met him at a conference once. Sure has changed since then, though, I gotta say.”

Steve shoots Tony a look. There’s a raging green monster smashing everything in its path on the screen.

Tony shrugs. “Alright, fine, Agent Agent, you had me at science. You guys fly on ahead, I’ll read through this and catch up in the suit.”

The thought briefly crosses Steve’s mind later that he has spent too much time with Tony if the sight of a carrier ship that can fly no longer wows him. No, he thinks, remembering those agonizing months not too long ago when they weren’t sure how much time they would even have left together. Definitely not too much time with Tony, never too much. He decides instead to chalk it up to expanded horizons.

He forgets that train of thought quickly, though, when he learns that Clint has been taken under the control of Loki, an otherworldly being who has decided to start wreaking havoc in Stuttgart, of all places.

He’s suited up and ready to go almost as quickly as Natasha is. The flight in the quinjet to Germany is tense, both of them clearly on edge about what is happening with Clint. At least Sam is still calm enough to pilot the jet.

Loki turns out to be a very formidable opponent, tougher than any Steve has seen in a long time. He might even have the upper-hand on Steve.

That is, until Shoot To Thrill comes on over the speakers of the quinjet. Steve tries his best to keep the smile off his face as Tony swoops in. It only takes Iron Man one well-aimed repulsor shot to knock Loki back and get him to surrender.

“Mr. Stark,” Steve says. He might be slightly out of breath from the fight but there’s no way he’s going to resist the taunt.

Steve knows Tony is fighting back the urge to reply with something slightly lewd and inappropriate. 

“Captain,” Tony replies, his voice carefully even-toned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well darlings, there we have it. The End. Thanks to everyone who followed along, thanks for kudos and comments!
> 
> Oh, wait, did I leave it open for the possibility of a follow-up? ... Hmmm, looks like I did. Fancy that...


End file.
